[bradknowles]

Speaking as the former Sr. Internet Mail Administrator for AOL, there is none. When I was there, we actively worked very, very hard to make sure that we did everything we should do to keep our stupid AOL users from inappropriately hurting people who contact them -- Like marking that message from your own mother as spam? Really?

Problem is, there are plenty of large sites out there who aren't so conscientious, and you can keep up that level of commitment for only so long.

There is no one on this entire PLANET that hates spam more than I do, and for a time I could rightfully claim that there was no other single person on this planet who had done more to fight spam than I had. But even I have my limits. I haven't been active in CAUCE or any other anti-spam effort for many years, and I haven't even been an active mail system administrator for a few years.

As one of the members of the Postmaster Team for python.org (currently inactive), I have seriously hated some of the stupid shit that has been done by the likes of Google, hotmail, and Yahoo! I've been sorely tempted to just ban them outright, because of whatever might be their latest stupidity. But it hasn't happened -- At least, not yet.