As I sit with several domain names available at my disposal, I got to thinking that this may be the way one could combat spam — registering your own domainname. Let me explain.
So I have the domain “realistek.com” and I want to register for an Ebay account. Instead of simply giving “gudlyff@realistek.com”, I’d instead register “ebay@realistek.com” which would just point to my inbox. Now I can easily filter mail appropriately as it comes through. Not only that, but I can tell which places gave my email address out to spaming companies and act accordingly. I can also give out addresses like “mike.hunt@realistek.com” and “jim.johnson@realistek.com” for individuals. If I don’t want to hear from them anymore, *poof*, I delete the address.
An even better way to make sure your address isn’t guessed is to give out nonsense addresses, like “tfg57@realistek.com”, which you would just make a note of who that address is assigned to.
I can’t imaging this is a new idea, but I figured I’d post it anyway.
Of course now that you’ve written out your e-mail address on the web, you’ll be getting plenty of spam. Have fun.
Comment by Bob — January 30, 2004 @ 8:06 am
I don’t think it’s possible to get more spam that I already do — I post my address everywhere. Spamassasin is my friend.
Comment by Gudlyf — January 30, 2004 @ 9:32 am
I do the same thing with email aliases–use one for online bidness till I don’t need it anymore. I also like to post on Usenet with a new alias and see how long it takes to get spammed.
Comment by todd — November 4, 2004 @ 6:01 pm
Of course, this is not a new idea, it is even a classic one, but we all have brillant ideas already found out by others… I suppose that’s why someone invented patents…
BTW, the post 3 seems quite suspect for me
Comment by PhiLho — January 25, 2005 @ 4:02 am
Grr.. Thanks for pointing that one out. Not sure how I missed it.
Comment by Gudlyf — January 25, 2005 @ 10:25 am