Hit: Email blocking

[Kay Ellis <tcb027@MAIL.CONNECT.MORE.NET>]

Thanks to those who reponded to our questions:

Is there any way to block a sender's e-mail address so harrassing messages
cannot be received from them? If so, how? What software is required? We have
received some hate messages handled through a third party provider, so no
return e-mail address was available.

*********************************************************************
From Matthew Beall
Graduate Student, Catholic University School of Library and Information Science

What you are looking for is called a "twit filter."  It's a way to tell your
mail program to ignore jerks.  Some mail programs have this capacity built
in, some don't.

Check your mail program: does it filter messages? What are your options? If
there is no "twit filter" or equivalent, then perhaps you can set up a
filter (easy to do) and deposit the messages from this individual in a
special mailbox.  You can then delete these messages without even checking
the contents.

********************************************************************
From Dan Robinson
Editorial Specs Specialist
H.W. Wilson Company
Bronx, NY
    It all depends on your system. Some ISPs can block incoming mail at the
receiving computer level. You may have a feature to block an address on your
mail server. Or firewall hardware/software may be able to do it. On the
closest level, a good email program that allows filtering of incoming mail
can be set to delete a message, rather
than send it to a folder.

We use Pegasus here at Wilson. It runs on a Novell LAN, but will also run as
a standalone program. (It's also freeware). Pegasus can be set to filter
incoming messages to individual folders based on criteria that you set. One
of the options is to delete, instead of move.

Have you tried contacting the administrators of the system that the mail was
sent thruough? A message to 'postmaster@' the sender's address will usually
get some sort of response.

*******************************************************************
From Cheryl W. Stevens
Library Media Specialist
Willimantic, Connecticut

You need to contact the web provider-IMMEDIATELY!!! Sending hate messages is
illegal. There is information on the LM_NET archives about the steps to take
when something like this happens.

*******************************************************************
From Jan Bowman

If you receive something that seems threatening, it may be appropriate to
contact the postmaster of the listserv, your school administrators, or in
some cases, even the police or FBI.

*******************************************************************
From Deena Wells
Librarian
Talawanda High School
Oxford,Ohio

My Pegasus email reader lets me download messages directly into folders.
All I have to do is targe the "from" address, redirect it to the "trash"
folder, and delete the messages periodically.  You might see if you can
upgrade your browser to one that has this feature.

*******************************************************************
Just a note to explain a little more.  My administrator was the target of
these messages and needed some help in what to do.  We have our computer
personnel working on this with your help.  The Internet site is set up to
send hate messages anonymously so it is not possible to trace the address to
the person sending the message.  We would like to be able to do more that
just trash the messages.  If we have any success with this, I will try to
post more information later.

Thanks again.
Kay Ellis                                    Hannibal High School
Media Specialist                             4500 McMasters Av.
kellis@hannibal.k12.mo.us                    Hannibal, MO 63401
Fax: 573-221-9511                            573-221-2733 ex.133