Dreamwidth Spamfighters

This is your periodic reminder that ban evasion is against the Dreamwidth terms of service. Using a second Dreamwidth account to comment to, or otherwise contact, a user or community who has banned your first account, should be investigated as ban evasion.

If you are a community admin who has been experiencing ban evasion from your users, you must also file a Terms of Service complaint against the accounts which continue to harass your community.

The antispam department does not handle Terms of Service complaints.

We are looking for additions to our dedicated team of spamwhackers, to ideally reach round-the-clock coverage of incoming reports. Comments are screened, so you can leave applications here. If you have questions, ask them here as well, and someone can unscreen them for discussion. (If you'd prefer that they be left screened, let us know.)

The ideal volunteer:

• can quickly assess a given report
• can decide whether or not a given report is spam (checking with a colleague or team lead if uncertain)
• can handle spam reports reasonably quickly
• is available 2-3 hours a week to watch for fresh spam
• can handle repetitious work
• can handle possible duplication of effort

Training with the spam system and with the spam policies is provided, and we can work with people's individual schedules for training.

The antispam system is mostly as inherited from our code parent, not designed for accessibility, and allows volunteer collision/duplication of work. (It has been successfully used by a volunteer using a screen reader, but has not yet been upgraded with accessibility in mind.)

Fresh spam is announced in a usually-low-volume IRC channel. IRC access is not required, but is helpful for training and watching for spam. The IRC channel can be accessed through your favorite IRC client (unless your favorite IRC client is Mibbit, as Mibbit and Freenode don't work together), or through Freenode's webchat (visual or audio CAPTCHA, javascript required, computer capable of handling webchat required).

Spam reports contain a mix of actual spam and things that are not spam. While they are relatively rare by spam volume, some of the spam advertises illegal and disturbing materials such as child pornography. Some reports involve other general unpleasantness. Reports of this nature can be upsetting to encounter. Any antispam volunteer can decline to handle any given spam report, but what has been seen cannot be unseen in some cases. The team leads are available to chat about any spam report upon request. You are the best judge of your own capabilities and limits, and are free to resign at any time, for any reason.

1. What brought you to Dreamwidth?


2. What is your interest in working with Dreamwidth's antispam team?


3. How long do you see yourself staying with Dreamwidth and/or the antispam team?


4. Which of these sample reports would you consider spam, and why or why not? What extra information would you look for, if you are unsure?
   
   1. djurEUVKSwjvcWJDJ Jonny was here
   
   
   2. Nice blog, good job
   
   
   3. Go to hell, you're the most stupid little fuck I've ever met.
   
   
   4. BUY HIGH-QUALITY CREDIT CARDS, FRESHLY SWIPED. I ONLY DO BUSINESS WITH RELIABLE PEOPLE. EMAIL ME HERE: [email address]
   
   
   5. My dear, I have searched and I believe you are the heir of the Prince. Please contact me by private mail and furnish your full name, address, social security number, and any other information to identify that you are the legitimate heir. God bless, [signed]
   
   
   6. This device began as a four-line writing handbags machine, but eventually became capable of writing sixteen and thirty-two lines at once. Houser's invention became extremely popular- students would break rules so they could have a go at using the Graphical Device (for threepence to use it and a penny to help wind it up). Eventually, Houser's experiments came to an end when someone opened a wrong quality handbags door and the pent-up force of his prototype 256-line writing machine propelled Houser out of a fourth floor window.
   
   
   7. Weight loss drugs Best weight loss Fast weight loss Effective weight loss Wonderful diet
   
   
   8. Happy birthday, sweetie! Hope it's a good one and your hair doesn't catch fire lol, see my entry for your card [livejournal.com link]
   
   
   9. [img src=alkj58akalk.com/karklhfg/shoes.jpg]
   
   
   10. [img src=hello.jpg]


5. How many hours a week can you devote to antispam efforts if needed?


6. What times of day are you typically available? What time zone? (Times of day are appreciated in UTC. If unsure, mention your availability in your local time, with your local time zone.)


7. Do you have any previous experience with antispam work, or issue-handling queues?


8. What languages do you read at a level of fluency to be able to tell spam from non-spam?

This is a volunteer (unpaid) position, and does not require a Non-Disclosure agreement nor a Contributor Licensing Agreement, although antispam volunteers are expected to not discuss any sensitive information they are exposed to. New members are added in response to spam volume, as needed, and not all applicants will necessarily be accepted. Length of journal establishment, publicly visible journal contents, and behaviour on the site are also considered.

Edited 2011 12 05 to clarify a few small points and add a language question.

This community is for organizing and coordinating the Dreamwidth Anti-Spam effort.


State of the Anti-Spam

Right now, Dreamwidth is getting a scattering of anonymous comment spammers. If you get one, please delete its comment and mark it as spam when deleting it. This will make it and its IP address show up in the spam queue, so when it tries to spam again it will be caught.

Spam volume is very low, now that the initial backlog has been cleared, so there is no massive call-out for volunteers.

The Handling Spam Reports wiki page has more information on the process.