|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All About "Retired Emailiases"
|
| What does it mean to "Retire an Emailias"? |
| Every emailias can be "retired". It is a new way to help get rid of spam. It's sort of like deleting an emailias, but anybody who sends an email to the retired emailias will receive a message back, letting them know that you changed your email address and that they can get the new one by visiting a web page. |
| When do I retire an emailias? |
|
You retire an emailias if you start receiving spam to it. Often, when you give an
email address to a public newsgroup (for example), you will start to receive junk
email to your address. If you're using an emailias, you're already ahead in the game,
because you could delete your emailias which would stop the spam.
However, if you delete an emailias, nobody could ever get in touch with you by that emailias again. So, if you posted a useful comment to a newsgroup, and a month later somebody else reads your comment and wants to talk to you more about it, then they'd be unable to get in touch with you if you'd deleted the emailias. Now you can retire the emailias instead. So, when that person sends an email to your retired emailias, they will receive a friendly message back to them saying something like "My email address has changed. You can get the new address by visiting the following web page...." They would then be able to send their message to your updated/new emailias and still be in touch with you. |
| Can I retire an emailias again? |
|
Oh, Yes! The process of retiring an emailias is like building a chain, where a
retired emailias is a link in that chain that refers to the tip of that chain. The
first time that you retire an emailias, you create a new tip to that chain. The
single retired emailias will refer others to the tip of that chain if they send email
to the retired emailias.
If you then retire the tip of that chain, you will now have two retired emailiases that will refer to the same new tip in that chain. To be clear, every retired emailias in a retirement chain will refer to the tip. Even the oldest emailias is updated to refer to the newest tip. |
| Why would I retire an emailias again? |
|
For the same reasons that you retired the first emailias. The retired emailias is
ideal for newsgroups where you often post an email address with your comments, but that
address gets left around for spammers to pick-up and send their junk to.
Each time you go back to post another comment to the newsgroup, you can use your latest emailias to post your comments. Just keep retiring the emailias any time you start to get junk. |
| Can I still reply to an email for a retired emailias? |
|
Yes! Our "reply-masking" technology still works, even if you've retired an emailias.
When you reply, your reply email is automatically updated to appear to be sent from
the new emailias that replaced the retired emailias.
|
| Can I still delete an emailias? |
|
Yes. You can still delete an emailias, just as you always could. You can also
still delete an emailias once it's been retired. That just means that the deleted
emailias will no longer let others know that there's a new address to use.
|
| Isn't this inconvenient to people trying to get in touch with me? |
|
Not really. Consider that spam is inconveniencing you much more consistently, than
it is to the friendly stranger that is trying to get in touch with you.
The alternative for the friendly stranger would be that you've deleted your emailias
altogether, which means that they'd have absolutely no chance of getting in touch
with you.
The advantage of this is that a real person will be able to read the email that is sent back to them. However, those who send spam will seldom receive such a reply and less-likely read the reply anyway. Therefore, real people can keep in touch, while spammers are kept at bay. |
| Won't spammers adapt their software to combat this? |
|
Possibly, yes. The "spam war" is an escallating battle. "Retiring an Emailias"
is the newest weapon in this battle, and it gives you a huge advantage over the
spammers.
While it is possible that someday a spammer will create software that will combat this new technology, we will also continue to evolve and create options for our customers that will continue to make it harder for spammer to reach you, while still letting friendly people keep in touch with you. |
| Is this the same thing as "Challenge/Response"? |
| No. It has the same result, though: to keep spammers away and let real people keep in touch with you. This is also easier for you and for others trying to get in touch with you. |
|
What's up with this icon?
|
| It's a great icon, isn't it? I had to think of something for retirement, so why not send an envelope to the tropics to symbolize retiring an emailias? :-) |
|
|
| Next Topic: Tell me all about Targets... |
