"Chris Mahoney" wrote in message
oups.com...
In many cases it's the end-user's email client, rather than the
server,
that sends the rejection messages. For example, the client I use can
send a rejection message if you flag the incoming message as spam.



So if it is spam, how do YOU (or your e-mail client) know that you are
sending the rejection to the correct sender? YOU DON'T and that is why
such auto-rejects are stupid. In fact, such rejections received by an
innocent (i.e., someone who never sent you the mail but gets your
rejection message) are themselves considered spam and are reported as
such to the spam blacklists. See SpamCop's policy on such stupid
rejections. Your client NEVER had the connection with the sending mail
host so you have no real way of identifying exactly what host sent you
the spam. You are generating a NEW and completely disconnected
rejection mail rather than rejecting the delivery DURING the mail
session (which then makes the *sending* mail host put an NDR
(non-delivery report) in the sender's mailbox). Mailwasher is one of
those products that provide such rejection methods: if spam then send a
bogus NDR. You aren't a mail server, your NDR is a *new* message and
not a mail session rejection which caused an NDR to be generated at the
sending mail host, you are wasting more mail traffic on worthless
rejections that will never reach the spammer, and you are likely sending
those rejections to innocents so your rejections are themselves spam
since the innocent never solicited for your rejection mail. Folks that
think Mailwasher's auto-reject bounceback is a good idea haven't spent
much more than a few seconds to cogitate what is really happening.