For almost as long as there have been emails - spam has been a cause for concern for most. Not only for the targeted individuals, but also for the companies whose brands and addresses have been misused and products sold illegally. This month we turn our focus towards the Sender Policy Framework as a means for domain holders to combat the ever illusive problem of SPAM.

Introduction

SPF was introduced back in 2005 and has since then become widely used as a means for domain name administrators to defend their domain name(s) from being misused by spammers to send out unconsolidated commercial emails.

How does it work?

Implemented into the DNS TXT record of any given domain name, the SPF record holds a list of addresses, which has been set as valid sender(s) for the given domain name. The recipients mail server can then validate the origin of emails received simply by checking the DNS settings of the senders domain name. Obviously this alone does not guarantee that the emails you send will be cleared by the recipients spam filter. However it should make them a lot less likely to be marked as SPAM.

Example

A company with the domain name test.com wish to configure an SPF record for their domain name. They are using the email server smtp.isp.edu (IP: 123.123.123.123) as their outgoing SMTP-server. Furthermore they have a website application from where they send automated emails to their clients. The web server for this application is located at IP 111.222.111.222.

The SPF record for this setup could look something like this:

“v=spf1 a:smtp.isp.edu ip4:111.222.111.222 -all”

By adding the above record we can tell other mail servers that emails send from @test.com addresses, either via smtp.test.com or via 111.222.111.222, are legitimate emails. Everything else is not and should be dealt with accordingly.

How does this concern me?

Well, SPAM concerns everyone. From a general point of view you can help in the fight against SPAM. The Sender Policy Framework is designed to become increasingly efficient - The more domain names using SPF records, the more ISPs (Internet Service Providers) would be inclined to implement these checks; thus helping everyone.

From your point of view spammers will be less likely to use your domain name as the sender address when they spam. This should reduce/eliminate bounced emails send back to you in response to messages that you did not actually send in the first place as well as any attempt in spoofing activities using your domain name as the sender.

Last but not least, emails that you send will be less likely not to reach their destination. This should be enough of an incentive for any company to consider implementing SPF records in the DNS of domain name.

External resources & links

To learn more about SPF records, try the one of the following sites.

SPF Introduction
Open SPF, Introduction

SPF Common mistakes
Open SPF, Common mistakes

SPF Wizard
Open SPF, Wizard

Wikipedia
Wikipedia, Sender policy framework

The decision means that companies could turn brands into web addresses while individuals could use their names.
Some believe there could be at least 5,000 new top-level domains, but others say there could be demand for billions.
Peter Dengate Thrush, a member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), said the decision was of “historic importance”.
The new system should come in next year, but ICANN admits there will be plenty of problems, and it may have to arbitrate between different organisations seeking the same name.

Jonathan Robinson, Chief Operating Officer at the domain name management specialist NetNames (www.netnames.com) assesses decision’s impact on the industry.

“While it is clear the Internet domain name structure needs to evolve, the ICANN vote in favour of opening up Top Level Domains (TLDs) leads to complex questions for marketers and trademark owners.

“It can be argued that the expansion of available suffixes is the equivalent of opening a can of worms in terms of online infringement and cybersquatting – it seems logical to assume that as domain numbers increase, so too will the levels of speculative activity.

“Brand owners may find themselves in the position of having to register numerous new domains to protect themselves but, with varying fee estimates that could well turn out to be an untenable marketing expense for some. Nonetheless, the impact on existing domains remains to be seen. In the case of a big brand, presumably any browsers visiting a newly registered domain would be redirected to the original TLD in any case. There will also be question marks over how new domains will affect Search Optimisation and consequent site traffic and PPC advertising rates.

“One thing that does seem clear is, with the final pricing and potential refund and dispute procedures not yet in place for applicants, brand owners and the trademark community will be keeping an extremely close eye on developments in the coming months.
Hidide Article

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” – it’s a format for distributing and gathering content from sources across the Web, including newspapers, magazines, and blogs. With RSS you can quickly and easily get the latest updates from all your favourite websites in one place, rather than having to visiting them one by one. To do this you use an RSS reader that automatically checks for news and updates.

How can you tell if a website has an RSS feed?

Often you will see a small orange feed icon saying ‘RSS’, ’subscribe’ or ‘feed’ next to it. Usually you just copy and paste the feed link into your RSS reader. Another great thing about RSS feeds: No spam and complete user control; Unsubscribing to RSS feeds are as easy as it can get – delete it, and it’s gone. Period.

Choosing an RSS reader

There are many different ‘feed readers’ (also known as RSS readers, RSS aggregators or simply newsreaders) to choose from, but they can be divided into two main types: web-based and application based. Web-based readers have the benefit that you can check your feeds from any computer, while the stand-alone applications often have more features and greater flexibility. Browsers such as Internet Explorer 7, Firefox and Safari also have built-in RSS readers, although these are not as flexible and versatile as using a separate application.

Web Based RSS Readers

All you have to do is to sign up for an account and you can add as many feeds as you want. Below are a few of the most popular; some sites will  have buttons that allow you to add it to these RSS readers automatically. Otherwise, just copy and paste the RSS feed link into your  reader and you’re up and running.

• MyYahoo
  
• Bloglines
• MyMSN
• NewsGator
• GoogleReader

Locally installed RSS Readers

If you prefer, you can download an RSS reader and install it on your computer, below are links to a few of the most popular. Some of these are freeware/open source, others charge a licence fee:

• FeedReader [Freeware]
• Attensa
• Lektora [Win, Mac & Linux]
• Klipfolio
• FeedIt [Open-source]
• Blogbot for Outlook
• Vienna [Mac OS X, freeware]
• NewsFire [Mac OS X]

Name: Mike Spencer

Location: Holme Lacy, Herefordshire,UK

Activity: Printing Agency

Website: www.spencerprint.co.uk

Hi Mike, you have run your own printing agency, Spencer Print, for a couple of years now. We’ve heard that you are starting a new project of illustrated autobiographical books; could you tell us more about it?

Yes, my colleague and I are producing a series of one off biographies aimed solely at the rich and famous.

Is your colleague the illustrator?

My colleague, Karl Dixon, is an internationally acclaimed cartoonist who has worked on the Dandy Comic. He has now left them to form his own publishing company.

How do you establish the storyline behind the books?

Karl Dixon will interview a client and his family to ascertain all the most personal and cherished moments in their life.
This will then be used to produce a one off autobiography solely for the client and his family which won’t be on sale to the general public.

What will the book look like?

The book will be illustrated with watercolour, on high quality watercolour paper. The book will then be bound with leather, with the option of gold leaf and diamond inlay.

Why are you focused on the rich and famous?

The book will not be cheap. It will sell at a minimum of £1000 per page, with an average book being 40 pages. We are confident that once one book has been sold then every star and rich person will want one. We are also looking into getting a TV programme produced filming the process.

This sounds great, how are you feeling about it?

We are extremely excited by this project and it has huge potential. We only need somebody really famous to sign up, and then the sky’s the limit. We are also going to be producing tutorial DVD’s and running an online course.

How will you promote all of these new services?

When I have more funds available I plan to upgrade my Easily Account so I can run an online store. We plan to sell DVD Tutorials and run an online drawing college. If we can sell just one autobiography to someone really famous, then we believe demand will increase for the books, videos and courses.

Mike, thanks a lot for your time and all the best for your creative projects.

Thank you.

* All enquiries on this matter will be handled by Karl’s PR Company, Sales Solutions 4 U Ltd. Please contact Gabrielle Van der Velde on 07961 053166 or email her at gabriellevan@aol.com.

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