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I would agree with this technique, but it’s not possible due to the high number of services that don’t permit “+” in the email address or break because they don

I would agree with this technique, but it’s not possible due to the high number of services that don’t permit “+” in the email address or break because they don’t URI encode it. I have several services I will never be able to unsubscribe from because of the latter—and yes, I tried manually URI encoding it and changing the form fields with dev tools.

scrollaway 6y ago
Such services are likely breaking the law. Edit: Downvote me all you want, they're still breaking the law… In the US there's the CAN-SPAM act (https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can...) and nearly every other country has similar laws. Most of them require one-click unsubscribes to work. It's still failure to comply even if it's due to negligence/ignorance/incompetence.
- pavel_lishin 6y ago
  What does one-click unsubscribe have to do with accepting an email with a + in it?
  - Xylakant 6y ago
    The parent post to the one you're responding explicitly calls out that they cannot unsubscribe from lists when they've subscribed with a +-address: > I have several services I will never be able to unsubscribe from because of the latter—and yes, I tried manually URI encoding it
  - frandroid 6y ago
    You're allowed to subscribe with an address with the + sign, but the unsubscribe endpoint chokes on the + sign.
- jeremiahlee 6y ago
  How exactly should I go about dealing with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment under the CAN-SPAM Act? Individuals cannot sue under CAN-SPAM Act and I don't think any state Attorney General is going to bring a suit on my behalf because they didn't accommodate a plus alias.
  - scrollaway 6y ago
    Little of consequence most likely, but in the USA the route would be an fcc complaint I believe. https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us The technical details as to why they are failing to unsubscribe you does not matter at all. What matters is, you've unsubscribed repeatedly and they are failing to register your intent.
  - account42 6y ago
    Send them a letter stating that they are spamming you and hope they will fix it?
- kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
  What law requires companies to follow IETF standards? '+' has no special meaning. The relevant standards only say that senders can't dictate how a system encodes its addresses. No law is in place to compel that behavior. If that were the case I'd love to force ISPs supposedly selling IP services to allow unencumbered use of port 25, residential servers, and transport protocols other than TCP and UDP.
  - Sodman 6y ago
    They're not saying that not allowing a + is breaking the law, but unsubscribe links being broken (due to the presence of a + in the email) could be breaking the law, especially if there are no alternative methods to unsubscribe.
tedd-the-tiger 6y ago
I've long held the thought of having a mailbox that receives [everything]@[domain], except certain blacklisted addresses. As certain addresses get spam and/or I lose interest in the business I gave the address to, I add them to the blacklist. So far, I'm using AWS SES, which seems to be focused on the sending of marketing emails, and are not fussed on receiving, but includes rudimentary blacklisting. So far, it's zero cost.
- gruez 6y ago
  How is it set up with SES? AFAIK they don't provide a POP/IMAP interface.
  - tedd-the-tiger 6y ago
    SES has rule sets for receiving email. I have one rule that matches all the blocked recipients (addresses at my domain that receive spam), which bounces with 'mailbox does not exist' (then stops rule processing), then another rule after that that puts all mail into an S3 bucket. Then I have a script that uses the AWS CLI to move all the mail from the bucket to a local dovecot server. The whole thing is really hacky/experimental at the moment, and I haven't given out any addresses, so all that I receive is spam. But the spam I do receive is very little and quickly adds to the blocked recipients list. Sending using SES uses the built-in SMTP server functionality at AWS and has very generous limits for one who is not marketing.
  - Xylakant 6y ago
    I presume the parent means Amazon work mail which AFAIR uses SES to send. Last time I evaluated email services, they didn’t handle catch-all which made that a non-starter for us.
    - tedd-the-tiger 6y ago
      Oh no, not WorkMail. That costs ~US$4/user/month, which is not what I want at all. Check my response to your parent post.

scrollaway 6y ago

Such services are likely breaking the law. Edit: Downvote me all you want, they're still breaking the law… In the US there's the CAN-SPAM act (https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can...) and nearly every other country has similar laws. Most of them require one-click unsubscribes to work. It's still failure to comply even if it's due to negligence/ignorance/incompetence.

pavel_lishin 6y ago
What does one-click unsubscribe have to do with accepting an email with a + in it?
- Xylakant 6y ago
  The parent post to the one you're responding explicitly calls out that they cannot unsubscribe from lists when they've subscribed with a +-address: > I have several services I will never be able to unsubscribe from because of the latter—and yes, I tried manually URI encoding it
- frandroid 6y ago
  You're allowed to subscribe with an address with the + sign, but the unsubscribe endpoint chokes on the + sign.
jeremiahlee 6y ago
How exactly should I go about dealing with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment under the CAN-SPAM Act? Individuals cannot sue under CAN-SPAM Act and I don't think any state Attorney General is going to bring a suit on my behalf because they didn't accommodate a plus alias.
- scrollaway 6y ago
  Little of consequence most likely, but in the USA the route would be an fcc complaint I believe. https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us The technical details as to why they are failing to unsubscribe you does not matter at all. What matters is, you've unsubscribed repeatedly and they are failing to register your intent.
- account42 6y ago
  Send them a letter stating that they are spamming you and hope they will fix it?
kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
What law requires companies to follow IETF standards? '+' has no special meaning. The relevant standards only say that senders can't dictate how a system encodes its addresses. No law is in place to compel that behavior. If that were the case I'd love to force ISPs supposedly selling IP services to allow unencumbered use of port 25, residential servers, and transport protocols other than TCP and UDP.
- Sodman 6y ago
  They're not saying that not allowing a + is breaking the law, but unsubscribe links being broken (due to the presence of a + in the email) could be breaking the law, especially if there are no alternative methods to unsubscribe.

tedd-the-tiger 6y ago

I've long held the thought of having a mailbox that receives [everything]@[domain], except certain blacklisted addresses. As certain addresses get spam and/or I lose interest in the business I gave the address to, I add them to the blacklist. So far, I'm using AWS SES, which seems to be focused on the sending of marketing emails, and are not fussed on receiving, but includes rudimentary blacklisting. So far, it's zero cost.

gruez 6y ago
How is it set up with SES? AFAIK they don't provide a POP/IMAP interface.
- tedd-the-tiger 6y ago
  SES has rule sets for receiving email. I have one rule that matches all the blocked recipients (addresses at my domain that receive spam), which bounces with 'mailbox does not exist' (then stops rule processing), then another rule after that that puts all mail into an S3 bucket. Then I have a script that uses the AWS CLI to move all the mail from the bucket to a local dovecot server. The whole thing is really hacky/experimental at the moment, and I haven't given out any addresses, so all that I receive is spam. But the spam I do receive is very little and quickly adds to the blocked recipients list. Sending using SES uses the built-in SMTP server functionality at AWS and has very generous limits for one who is not marketing.
- Xylakant 6y ago
  I presume the parent means Amazon work mail which AFAIR uses SES to send. Last time I evaluated email services, they didn’t handle catch-all which made that a non-starter for us.
  - tedd-the-tiger 6y ago
    Oh no, not WorkMail. That costs ~US$4/user/month, which is not what I want at all. Check my response to your parent post.