David Phillips wrote the following on 4/9/2007 11:38 AM:

> Basically, AOL arbitrarily decides, sometimes based on users hitting
> the 'report spam' button, which is right next to the delete button,
> that a domain is a source of spam, and it blocks all mail from that
> domain to any AOL user.

I was involved in a feedback loop with AOL, and discovered a few 
interesting things. This is what we send to our AOL Subscribers:

There have been problems with AOL blocking all mail from Maelstrom, the 
previous host of this list, and from ICORS/L-Soft, the current hosts. 
This has been caused by listmembers reporting mail from lists that they 
have requested as junk. Sometimes it is accidental (the Delete and Junk 
buttons are next to each other). Sometimes a subscriber no longer wants 
the mail and can't understand how to unsubscribe or set themselves to 
NOMAIL. So they mark all the mail as junk and prevent other AOL 
subscribers who still want to receive the mail from receiving it. 
Obviously this is not a nice thing to do  :-) . Sometimes AOL filters get 
a little too aggressive and put listmail and administrative messages from 
ICORS in the spam folder. If these are not removed they are reported to 
AOL as spam. So PLEASE check your spam folder every time you receive mail!

Note also that following AOL's own instructions to filter mail from 
unwanted senders to the spam folder will count against our 'spam' total 
and may cause all mail to be blocked. So please, if you must filter 
specific posters, filter directly to the trash or delete them manually.

To prevent list mail from being reported to AOL in error, please take the 
following steps.

1. Go to Keyword: "Spam Controls," click on "AOL's Advanced Spam Filter." 
Click "Clear Filter," then hit "Save." OR under "Spam Controls" click off 
"Mail filtered by AOL's Advanced Spam Filter." (Note that this will turn 
off much of your spam controls).

2. Add the list mail address to your online address book, AND/OR go to 
"Settings" click on tab "A to Z." Click on "Address Book Settings," then 
click "Automatically add e-mail address to my Address Book, then click 
"Save."

3. Set your Spam Controls to save all blocked mail in the "spam folder." 
Check the spam folder whenever you check your mail to see if list mail is 
being delivered there. If it is, click "This is not spam," to move it to 
your in box and cancel the report. If after doing the above steps, list 
mail is still being delivered to your spam folder, you may wish to 
contact AOL or consider switching service providers.

-- 
Karen Reznek
head listowner -- Asperger
Director -- ICORS