ORBS Opts Out

New Zealand-based anti-spam group shuts down its Web site

A FEARED ANTI-SPAM GROUP has shut down its Web site, and is apparently out of business.

The group, New Zealand-based Open Relay Behavior Modification System (ORBS), maintained a list of the Internet protocol addresses of computers used by alleged spammers. The list was monitored by various Internet service providers and others that blocked mail from those listed.

The reasons for the shutdown are unclear. Alan Brown, the site’s operator, said in an e-mail last month that he was unable to talk about the situation.

However, on May 22, Brown posted a message on a Web-based news chat service that stated he had been served with injunctions by a high New Zealand court ordering the removal of several ORBS listings.

The listings were for two New Zealand-based companies, Actrix Networks Limited, named for its mail servers and networks, and Telecom Corporation of NZ Limited, similarly termed for its mail servers and networks, Brown said in the chat.

A week later, Brown said that the ORBS Web site was closed for reasons unconnected with the proceedings involving the two firms.