Question : SORBS - anyone else think this is extortion ?

We were recently added to SORBS blocklist, by some company we've never heard of.
According to SORBS it was a manual submission, and our spam count is "1".

After going through their site, it appears the easy way to get delisted is to "donate" to Joey McNicol Legal Defense Fund. http://t3-v-mcnicol.org/ilaw/docs/PDF_5292.pdf

This fund was setup to defend against people filing lasuits on SORBS or it's affiliates for unwarranted blacklisting of email domains.  It seems this "trust" which was settled for $2.00, is basically a funnel of money for SORBS and it's affiliates LAWYERS !

The more they get sued, the more money they are able to tap from this fund !

It seems like a no brainer that they would allow people to manually sumit anyone they choose, increasing the chances of more lawsuits.....it's a nice racket they got going on.

We are not on any other blocklist, and i've found hundreds of forums where others have the same exact problem with SORBS.

I've instructed all of our business units and partners not to use SORBS, or they will not be able to send or recieve e-mail to our company.  If I pay the $50 bucks, what's to say it won't just happen again and again and again !???

Our company has nothing to do with e-mail, and we don't do "mass mailings" or commercial email of any sort.

We refuse to be extorted.

I realize this is mostly a "rant", however I felt I should ask this question to bring awareness to the way that one of the most popular spam block services operates.

If you agree that this is extortion then don't use SORBS....because it could happen to you too whether you use it or not.

Answer : SORBS - anyone else think this is extortion ?

I agrre that having to pay is extortion - but are you sure the only reason is that a single company complained about you?

Can you have a read through my Blacklist FAQ and check your house is in order:

http://www.it-eye.co.uk/faqs/readQuestion.php?qid=3