Stop Forum Spam
February 20th, 2010 by Michael Hampton
Recently it was suggested to me that Bad Behavior could incorporate support for Stop Forum Spam.
Stop Forum Spam is meant to be a list of IP addresses, emails and usernames which spammers use when registering or posting spam to forums. It seems to work well, but it has some shortcomings.
First among them is it has no native support for DNSBL. Instead, it exports its data to a third party DNSBL where the data is commingled with other data from unknown sources, making it difficult to use effectively.
Second is that it has no clearly defined removal policy. It does provide a form where people can request manual removal, but it also implies that a “network administrator” has to request removal.
After much experimentation with blackhole lists over the years, Bad Behavior currently uses only the Project Honey Pot http:BL list (and it is disabled by default). This list works very well at catching actual spammers, and it provides instant automatic removal for the very few legitimate users who happen to get caught by it.
Bad Behavior is meant to provide as little inconvenience to legitimate users as possible. When it happens, the user must be given clear directions on how to resolve the problem and ideally must be able to restore their access as soon as possible, e.g., by removing the viruses from their computer, etc.
Because it lacks a removal policy and clear process, it will not be appropriate to incorporate Stop Forum Spam at this time. I will continue to monitor the service and if it changes to allow for easier removal by legitimate users, then it may be incorporated in the future.