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Within milliseconds,
Postini's award-winning email security solution separates
SPAM and viruses from legitimate messages. Legitimate
email is instantly passed on to the customer's mailbox..
Suspicious email is quarantined in a web-based, password-protected
message center for the customer to review. The entire
process is fully automated — valid emails pass
through and cannot be physically accessed by any persons
other than the recipient.
Current Megahits subscribers automatically have the
Postini service! You can simply log into the message
center by going to http://login.postini.com/exec/login
and log in using your email address and password.
If you are a domain customer of Omega Communications
and wish to inquire about having Postini filter the
mail on your domain, please email
sales with any questions you may have about the
service. A sales representative from Omega Communications
will then contact you about the solution that is right
for you.
At Omega Communications we are well aware of an annoying
by-product of the Internet called: SPAM. Emails that
seem to flood your email account box with promises of
riches, miracle cures and offers that we refer to as
"junk mail".
We have a policy against unsolicited emails that constitute
abuse of our service (read the excerpt from Omega Communications,
Inc. Terms Of Service ).
Large bona fide etailers such as Microsoft and Amazon
for example will never sell your name to bulk emailers.
If you "submit" your name or "register"
to a site, they usually give you a choice if you wish
to receive future mailings.
This is referred to as "opting in"
Many times the default on the form you fill out is
set to "Opt In". Make sure you look for that
and click it to deactivate that function if you choose
not to receive these email offers.
In all cases, a bona fide source will always give you
a valid opportunity to be removed from the mailing list.
Please read the privacy policy if you are not sure
of the validity of the service being provided.
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TIPS: We have some tools in place that can assist you
in filtering other unwanted messages.
1. DO NOT RESPOND to these messages even when
the state that you can be "removed from the list".
In many cases the spammers use an algorithm that allows
then to cull names and even make up names that may or
may not be valid from an ISP.
If you "respond" to them by hitting "reply"
they in effect "gotcha" as a valid name on
their list. Even if you are removed from that list,
they can turn around and place you on another list!
(yes, spammers have no scruples)
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2. USE YOUR EMAIL SOFTWARE OR OUR WEB MESSAGING
CENTER TO FILTER YOUR EMAIL:
Go to the web messaging center for your service and
log in. Select "change processing rules"
Hit "ADD" to create a rule.
SELECT A FIELD that you want scanned (subject, body,
from etc).
TYPE IN WORD OR PHRASE that you want the scan to block
out.
SELECT MAIL BOX that you want all messages with your
"blocked word or phrase" to go to.
NOTE: If you select DELETE, the message will be permanently
deleted before you can review it. (see next tip)
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3. CREATE A MAIL BOX OR A FOLDER JUST FOR JUNK
MAIL WHERE YOU CAN "MASS" DELETE JUNK MAIL
WITH A FEW CLICKS.
If you are afraid that sending messages directly into
the delete bin you may risk deleting "wanted"
messages, you can choose to create a new mail box within
your Web Messaging account or a folder in your email
software and call it (i.e) "junk mail".
You can then choose to send all the "make money"
(etc) emails to this "junk mail" folder/box.
Once you receive mail, you can view that box or folder,
scan all the headers/subjects and delete the junk mails
all at one time by holding the "shift" key,
selecting them and deleting.
Please note, if you create a mail box and choose to
send junk email there, you are responsible for keeping
ALL of your email boxes within your allotted storage
space. If not, your mail box will continue to fill up
and future messages (good and bad) will get blocked
because you have run out of room on your account.
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Should I just change my email name?
Changing your email account name is to be used as a
last resort. Keep in mind that even if you change your
name, the spam will still begin to find its way into
your email box.
We encourage you to try out the methods above and if
you are still not having any great results the last
resort is to change your email account name but take
precautions.
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Why doesn't Omega just filter the emails for
me?
We are presented with numerous problems if we try to
block spam.
If we inadvertantly block an email from a list that
has valid subscribers we run the risk of breaking "Denial
of Service" laws. Denial of Service laws prohibit
us from blocking email that may be from an authorized
source. It is impossible for us to acertain which lists
you have subscribed to and which you consider junk or
spam mail.
Read about Censorship
vs. Blocking.
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Why can't Omega monitor emails and block those
that seem to be going to hundreds of customers?
Try this scenario: Your cousin sends an email to his
entire list of 100 extended family members announcing
a family reunion, we block it thinking it must be spam...
It would be impossible for us to determine on a minute
to minute basis out of the many thousands of emails
that flow through our services each day what each of
our customers consider spam and what emails are sent
because someone has"opted in" to receive such
messages.
Hopefully now you are beginning to see the difficulty
we are faced with. Not to mention the associated costs
that would result in monitoring each and every email
that passes through our systems.
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Isn't Spam protected by the First Amendment?
No, not particularly. The First Amendment protects
your rights to speak freely, it does not guarantee you
a platform that forces people to listen to you. Especially
one that potentially costs you money! If a spammer is
sending you email, the ISP has to allot bandwidth, you
are paying for your time online and for the bandwidth
costs for the ISP to stay in business.
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Isn't blocking Spam considered Censorship?
Censoring is rating or prohibiting based on content.
Blocking is putting the content where it belongs--only
with those who act in order to read it.
If you haven't "Opted In" to receive the
information you are perfectly within your rights to
block it out. The spammer can't acuse you for censoring
them if you didn't request it in the first place. Especially
when they turn around and resell or reuse your name
on another list when you attempt to "Opt Out"!
That also helps to explain why Omega can't simply block
or filter mass emails or emails we might consider offensive.
It is not our place to judge what you have opted to
receive.
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There are many organizations fighting the scourge of
spam and they need your support in reporting spammers
and abusers.
If this seems like an impossible task, take heart,
the government has heard the call and has passed laws
making unsolicted faxes a federally prosecutable offense
since 1991. (Read : U.S.
Federal law ) Many state
laws also prohibit prohibit the practice.
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