Chris Lewis is a Canadian security consultant[1] from Ottawa,[2] who fought spam on Usenet and the early Internet. Active in volunteer anti-spam efforts in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Lewis was described in Net.wars (1997) as "the best known active canceler of spam and other mass postings" at the time. In April 1998, he organized an unsuccessful moratorium with forty other anti-spam volunteers in an attempt to boycott internet service providers into doing their share against spam. He worked as a systems architect for Nortel and, as of 2017, is Chief Scientist at SpamhausTechnology.
Lewis worked as a senior security architect at Bell Northern Research, then as a systems architect for Nortel from 1991 to 2012.[3][4] In 2002, Lewis led a five-man spam-filtering team at a major telecommunications company[a] with over 45,000 employees. His unofficial title was "spam issues architect", and he was conservative with the messages he filters so as not to accidentally hide potential business offers. He said at the time that, while Usenet spammers had become unsuccessful, email spammers were still prevalent.[5] In late 2012, Nortel downsized and laid off Lewis. As of 2017, Lewis works as Chief Scientist at SpamhausTechnology, an organization targeting email spammers.[3]
Volunteer anti-spam efforts
Lewis was involved in volunteer anti-spam efforts on Usenet[6] and operated many bots,[7] including cancelbots, as part of these efforts.[8] Journalists Wendy M. Grossman and Andrew Leonard describe him as "the best known active canceler of spam and other mass postings" and "one of Usenet's foremost" spam-cancelers at the time.[9][7]Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's website called him a "[m]ajor Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more usenet abuse than anybody else."[10]
Lewis wrote and ran Dave the Resurrector, a "resurrector bot" that reported and reposted unauthorized cancel messages in the newsgroupnews.admin.net-abuse.misc, after a "particularly obnoxious run of cancels" sent by Kevin Lipsitz. The "resurrector bot" was named after Dave Hayes.[11] In 1995, Lewis stirred controversy after he canceled messages from Austin Bastable, a voluntary euthanasia activist suffering from multiple sclerosis, because they were mass e-mails and therefore met the definition of spam. He defended his actions by saying that while he sympathized with Bastable's position, "spam is spam".[12] In September 1996, Lewis was able to restore over 25,000 canceled posts with Dave the Resurrector after a cancelbot attacked several newsgroups on Asian and Jewish topics.[9][7]
In April 1998, Lewis coordinated a strike with forty other anti-spam volunteers due to the failure of some internet service providers and websites to help implement anti-spam filters—spam and spam-canceling messages were estimated by Lewis to make up 80% of Usenet traffic at the time.[2][13][14] However, predictions that Usenet would suffer a meltdown from spam traffic occurred only on a smaller scale, as some servers and small ISPs failing to use filters crashed. There was also a lack of "solidarity" between all volunteers, and "Cosmo Roadkill", one of their most active, continued to cancel spam regardless. The boycott was declared on March 31 by Lewis,[1] and ended after two weeks. Lewis said that the boycott helped raise awareness towards spam and pressured smaller ISPs and newsgroup administrators into implementing filters. Some alt. newsgroups may have been lost.[15]
^Skirvin, Tim (September 15, 1999). . Internet FAQ Archive. Archived from the original on October 6, 1999.
^"'Spam' Is Not Always Glorious". Newsweek. Vol. 126, no. 16. October 15, 1995. p. 82. ISSN 0028-9604.
^Bransten, Lisa (April 6, 1998). "Spam-Cancellers Threaten A Strike in Cyberspace". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
^McNamara, Paul (April 13, 1998). "Spam-busters to Usenet community: 'Don't call us'". NetworkWorld. Vol. 15, no. 15. p. 10. ISSN 0887-7661 – via Google Books.
^"Usenet spam strike ends". CNET. April 17, 1998. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
^Schwartzman, Neil (July 1, 2014). "CASL Comes into Force". CAUCE. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
Lewis, Chris (November 5, 2017). "SpamhausTechnologyLtd-e.pdf" (PDF). ourcommons.ca (Transcript). House of Commons of Canada. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
(PDF). ftc.gov (FTC Spam Forum Transcript). Federal Trade Commission. May 1, 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2004.
Request for Comments
Sergeant, Matt; Lewis, Chris (January 2012). Overview of Best Email DNS-Based List (DNSBL) Operational Practices (Request for Comments). doi:10.17487/RFC6471. RFC 6471.
Archived Usenet FAQs and posts
Chris Lewis' Spam Thresholds FAQ
(Chris Lewis, 27 Oct 2002)
"Help! I've been spammed! What do I do?" (maintained by Greg Byshenk)
February 22, 2023
chris, lewis, usenet, chris, lewis, canadian, security, consultant, from, ottawa, fought, spam, usenet, early, internet, active, volunteer, anti, spam, efforts, late, 1990s, early, 2000s, lewis, described, wars, 1997, best, known, active, canceler, spam, other. Chris Lewis is a Canadian security consultant 1 from Ottawa 2 who fought spam on Usenet and the early Internet Active in volunteer anti spam efforts in the late 1990s and early 2000s Lewis was described in Net wars 1997 as the best known active canceler of spam and other mass postings at the time In April 1998 he organized an unsuccessful moratorium with forty other anti spam volunteers in an attempt to boycott internet service providers into doing their share against spam He worked as a systems architect for Nortel and as of 2017 is Chief Scientist at SpamhausTechnology Chris LewisNationalityCanadianOccupationSecurity consultantOrganizationSpamhausTechnologyKnown forVolunteer despamming Operating cancelbotson Usenet Contents 1 Career 2 Volunteer anti spam efforts 3 References 3 1 Bibliography 4 External links 4 1 Transcripts 4 2 Request for Comments 4 3 Archived Usenet FAQs and postsCareer EditLewis worked as a senior security architect at Bell Northern Research then as a systems architect for Nortel from 1991 to 2012 3 4 In 2002 Lewis led a five man spam filtering team at a major telecommunications company a with over 45 000 employees His unofficial title was spam issues architect and he was conservative with the messages he filters so as not to accidentally hide potential business offers He said at the time that while Usenet spammers had become unsuccessful email spammers were still prevalent 5 In late 2012 Nortel downsized and laid off Lewis As of 2017 Lewis works as Chief Scientist at SpamhausTechnology an organization targeting email spammers 3 Volunteer anti spam efforts EditLewis was involved in volunteer anti spam efforts on Usenet 6 and operated many bots 7 including cancelbots as part of these efforts 8 Journalists Wendy M Grossman and Andrew Leonard describe him as the best known active canceler of spam and other mass postings and one of Usenet s foremost spam cancelers at the time 9 7 Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory s website called him a m ajor Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more usenet abuse than anybody else 10 Lewis wrote and ran Dave the Resurrector a resurrector bot that reported and reposted unauthorized cancel messages in the newsgroup news admin net abuse misc after a particularly obnoxious run of cancels sent by Kevin Lipsitz The resurrector bot was named after Dave Hayes 11 In 1995 Lewis stirred controversy after he canceled messages from Austin Bastable a voluntary euthanasia activist suffering from multiple sclerosis because they were mass e mails and therefore met the definition of spam He defended his actions by saying that while he sympathized with Bastable s position spam is spam 12 In September 1996 Lewis was able to restore over 25 000 canceled posts with Dave the Resurrector after a cancelbot attacked several newsgroups on Asian and Jewish topics 9 7 In April 1998 Lewis coordinated a strike with forty other anti spam volunteers due to the failure of some internet service providers and websites to help implement anti spam filters spam and spam canceling messages were estimated by Lewis to make up 80 of Usenet traffic at the time 2 13 14 However predictions that Usenet would suffer a meltdown from spam traffic occurred only on a smaller scale as some servers and small ISPs failing to use filters crashed There was also a lack of solidarity between all volunteers and Cosmo Roadkill one of their most active continued to cancel spam regardless The boycott was declared on March 31 by Lewis 1 and ended after two weeks Lewis said that the boycott helped raise awareness towards spam and pressured smaller ISPs and newsgroup administrators into implementing filters Some alt newsgroups may have been lost 15 Lewis co founded CAUCE Canada the first organization of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email CAUCE alongside John Levine and Neil Schwartzman on November 30 1998 and was later its treasurer 3 16 He was a member of the despamming group Cabal Network Security SPUTUM 1 References Edit Unnamed in the article presumably Nortel a b c Glave James April 10 1998 Anti Spam Boycott Faces Fragmented Ranks Wired Retrieved November 16 2022 a b Ward Mark April 18 1998 Throwing a spammer in the works New Scientist Retrieved November 16 2022 a b c Lewis 2017 Chris Lewis Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network Retrieved November 16 2022 Olsen Stefanie March 21 2002 Spam flood forces companies to take desperate measures cnet News Archived from the original on June 16 2011 Leonard 1997 p 167 a b c Leonard 1997 p 153 Leonard 1997 p 176 a b Grossman Wendy M 1997 Net wars NYU Press p 147 ISBN 0 8147 3103 1 8 12 NoCeM w3 pppl gov Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Archived from the original on November 1 2004 Retrieved November 16 2022 Skirvin Tim September 15 1999 Cancel Messages Frequently Asked Questions Part 4 4 v1 7 Internet FAQ Archive Archived from the original on October 6 1999 Spam Is Not Always Glorious Newsweek Vol 126 no 16 October 15 1995 p 82 ISSN 0028 9604 Bransten Lisa April 6 1998 Spam Cancellers Threaten A Strike in Cyberspace The Wall Street Journal Retrieved November 16 2022 McNamara Paul April 13 1998 Spam busters to Usenet community Don t call us NetworkWorld Vol 15 no 15 p 10 ISSN 0887 7661 via Google Books Usenet spam strike ends CNET April 17 1998 Retrieved November 17 2022 Schwartzman Neil July 1 2014 CASL Comes into Force CAUCE Retrieved November 16 2022 Bibliography Edit Leonard Andrew 1997 Bots The Origin of New Species San Francisco California Hardwired ISBN 1 888869 05 4 External links EditTranscripts Edit Lewis Chris November 5 2017 SpamhausTechnologyLtd e pdf PDF ourcommons ca Transcript House of Commons of Canada Retrieved November 16 2022 transcript day2 pdf PDF ftc gov FTC Spam Forum Transcript Federal Trade Commission May 1 2003 Archived from the original PDF on October 26 2004 Request for Comments Edit Sergeant Matt Lewis Chris January 2012 Overview of Best Email DNS Based List DNSBL Operational Practices Request for Comments doi 10 17487 RFC6471 RFC 6471 Archived Usenet FAQs and posts Edit Chris Lewis Spam Thresholds FAQ How to become a Usenet site Chris Lewis 27 Oct 2002 Help I ve been spammed What do I do maintained by Greg Byshenk The Golden Mallet Award Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chris Lewis Usenet amp oldid 1140849120, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
