Spammers and "The Blacklist"

Hey, all....

First let me state I really don't want to get into a flame-fest on spam 
do's or don'ts because that is right up there with sex, religion and 
politics.  ;-)   Just that I hate not "knowing" something I've heard about 
or experienced and hopefully, someone can enlighten me on the subject of 
infamous "Blacklist".  I know it exists based on a situation about 5 years 
ago with a client that was blacklisted in error. Their hosting company 
stated they were on "The Blacklist" and were able to remedy the situation.

Against our recommendations a client went ahead and spammed 100s of 
thousands of folks and not only that relayed through third party servers in 
the process.  Needless to say their hosting company shut them down F.A.S.T. 
(even quicker actually) and it is apparent that they are on the infamous 
Blacklist as the relocated site is not visible through various ISPs (the 
domain transfer has propagated) and email is bouncing back with a specific 
message that the mail was from an identified spammer and blocked from that 
particular system(s).

Now, I don't feel sorry for this client - it is clear they still don't 
understand the magnitude of their decision "I get cold-call telemarketed at 
home at 8 in the evening - this is the same thing".  We are clear about the 
repercussions as well that my company will not/cannot be their advocate 
when a client specifically ignores our advice on this topic.

I relocated the site to a new server (warned them again for the last time 
<hint-hint>) and that is as much as I want to get involved in this 
particular situation.  Thank goodness this is maintenance/strategy client 
and our name was not on any of the domain records.  BTW, if any of you have 
handled this type of situation differently please let me know.

That said, for my own knowledge - where can you find out about this topic 
in general and who is on The Blacklist?   I was really surprised how 
quickly this site was shut-down and Blacklisted so there must be a site, or 
a cooperative group of Hosts/ISPs who when someone goes too far this 
happens.  The question then becomes the legality of Blacklisting a business 
(how far is too far and what are the criteria) and the potential liability 
to said Blacklist if they err (more my concern with spammers using false 
identities) - which based on my own experience 5 years ago can happen.

I just know there has to be more info on this and any thoughts, resources 
or information any of you may have would be appreciated!  ;-)

/j

"Although it is within the realm of possibility to escort equus
caballus to a location providing a potable mixture of hydrogen and
oxygen, one cannot coerce said mammal to imbibe."

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