...and the response:
Answer (#909530)
Posted: Mon, 09 Feb 2004 03:39:34 GMT (38 minutes ago), credit fix here
FAQ Reference:
How do I contact the Abuse team?
Dear user,
Abuse reports to this address cannot be accepted. Please see the FAQ referenced above for information on how to properly report this matter to our Abuse Team.
Regards,
LiveJournal Webmaster Team
FWIW:
This was posted on the support forums specifically because:
a) there are a large number of complaints regarding LJ spam, especially in the past few hours (indicating the problem is becoming widespread)
b) there is evidence that a group that has a very long history of spamming of email, Usenet, instant messaging systems, etc. is specifically targeting LJ and due to this LJ admins may need to take emergency measures
c) LJ may wish to tell people how to lock down LJ forms, and more specifically, give tools to lock down LJ entries/sites, to prevent this type of abuse.
I have forwarded the original complaint to the abuse department, and a complaint was originally filed on your support boards (see http://www.livejournal.com/support/see_request.bml?id=206957&auth=ecv2)
regarding the issue.
I also think it important to note, as many people (during the discussion period on whether LJ should abandon the usercode system) commented specifically regarding the risk of spamming of journals. Several other journal systems which are based on the LJ code, which were formerly open membership, have had to go to usercodes due to multiple accounts being created for abuse (including, in some instances, spamming).
Unless Livejournal's admins have been involved in the net.abuse or security community for some time, I *really* do not think you may be aware that spamming of web-boards and other blogsites is *already* sufficiently a problem that they are increasingly locking down. I myself admin webboards as well as mailinglists, and am all too familiar with the issue (having seen the problems with spamming specifically getting worse and worse over the past decade); I don't want LJ to become unusable (much like Usenet, and much like email, and much like SMS in parts of Asia, and much like how even ICQ and AIM are starting to become) as an open forum, but one has to find a way to discourage the spammers as much as possible.
Again, I'd be willing to even volunteer regarding helping out with net.abuse issues; I just am not sure LJ's admins are aware how complex--and how truly nasty--the problem of spamming is, and how problematic LJ spamming could be if it is not nipped in the bud. (I myself know people on *paid* memberships who are considering leaving LJ altogether because they do not feel it is secure against spam and harassment.)
I still don't think they get the fact that *THEY HAVE A MAJOR SPAMGANG, ONE OF THE FOUR OR FIVE WORST SPAMGANGS ON THE ENTIRE *INTERNET*, ACTIVELY SPAMMING LIVEJOURNAL ACCOUNTS*.
I don't think they get that it's exactly this shit with spammers and trolls that forced Deadjournal--which *used* to be open--to go to invite codes...which has forced every other open blog service to go to invite codes or even go invite-only entirely.
It's this kind of crap that's forced the installation of SpamAssassin type filters on pretty much *all* administrative accounts on Yahoogroups lists and why more and more are going not just moderated, but moderated with subscription approval by form only and archives member-only--specifically to keep the goddamn spammers OUT.
*sigh*