[Mailman-Users] Help with abusive user...

[Tom Ray]

Trent Fisher wrote:
> I have a big problem, and I am hoping someone here has some advice... I have a person on my mailing list who has been very abusive, but has recently taken a turn to the creepy (I would call it cyberstalking), and so I have been trying to eject him from the list.
>
> First, I set his address to "moderate".  He promptly resubscribes with a new email address and continues where he left off.  We did a couple iterations of that.
>
> Then I set new subscribers to be moderated by default.  Then after a pause of a week or so, he starts posting again.  But he cannot as only members may post to the list.  Looking at the email headers it is clear that he must be forging the email messages to look, to the casual observer, like they are going through the mailing list, but his messages lack the proper "Reply-To" and all the "List-*" headers... but he is somehow "on" the mailing list to be getting the messages to respond to.
>
> So, I set all recent subscribers to "nomail", under the assumption one of them is him.  But his posts (that is, replys to mailing list messages) continue.  So he still has an address on the list, but I cannot figure out which one.
>
> Here's something weird: someone subscribed a week or so ago, but I cannot find them on the web interface.  I get both subscribe and unsubscribe notifications, so I know he didn't unsubscribe.  Could this guy be exploiting a bug?
>
> One thought I had, was to write a script to send out a specially constructed message to each individual on the list.  The message would be "forged" to look like it came from the list, and each message would have a slight variation which I can map back to the email address that got the message.  Then I could know which address is his.  This seems like a lot of work and it may not even work.  But it's the only thought I've got at this point short of shutting the list down.
>
> I have thought about contacting his ISP (Comcast) and seeing if they could help... but I am reluctant to do this as he seems to have no end of energy and can carry a grudge to the end of the earth... and, I have heard that he is a lawyer!  So, I have a feeling that would be a very rocky, and ultimately futile, road to go down.
>
> Anyway, if anybody has any advice for how to deal with this, or any ideas, I would be ever so grateful!
>
> ++thanks,
> trent...
> 1.027.htp
>   
Have you warned this guy already? I don't mean just removed him from the 
list but sent him an email(s) that basically stated "Stop or you'll be 
banned" or "Hey, I warned you. You are now banned."? Is do, did he reply 
to any of them? I run a small hosting/ISP company and things like this 
can not be tolerated regardless of the rumored profession. *IF* he is a 
lawyer then it's even better for you because everything he is doing now 
to your list is considered SPAM. He's forging headers, he's sending 
unwanted emails to your list, etc.. The bottom line is this guy is 
breaking the law and you have recourse.

The next big question is do you have a TOS or AUP anywhere the members 
of this list are supposed to follow and is viewable by the public? If 
you do then he is definitely violating those agreements and it's really 
time to stomp on this guy. From the sounds of it you've been nice and 
now it's time not to be nice.

My advice is to go through everything you have that you know is from him 
and that you suspect is from him and get all the header information, 
mail server info, etc.. Compile a nice little file showing how this guy 
has abused your mailing list with SPAM, etc. and then call Comcast and 
anyone else he's used to do this with, get to their Abuse Dept. and do 
everything you can to nail this guy to the wall. You have everything you 
need to drive the nails in so just do it. It also might be worth it to 
get a consultation from a lawyer who knows about this kind of law. It 
will be worth the consultation fee for this and future incidents.

The reason I say consult a lawyer is because if this guy really is a 
lawyer and is practicing in one of the 50 states, you maybe able to 
report him to the Bar Association. I figure they might have a problem 
with a lawyer breaking the law and using his position as a lawyer to do 
it. I can't be a 100% on that but it's something to look into.

No matter what you need to contact his ISP and get them to do something 
and you need to not be nice about it. ISPs won't take the risk of legal 
action being brought against them and will generally remove the customer 
from their services.

Let me know what happens.