Two weeks ago, TotalBlock received a letter from People Telecom stating it had received numerous complaints of spam activity coming from its IP address and threatened to suspend service within 48 hours unless action was taken.

TotalBlock ignored the letter and so far have had no repercussions. The suspect e-mail (reported to SpamCop by a UK recipient) contained a link back to TotalBlock on request of TotalBlock customers.

Peter Stewart, TotalBlock chairman, said no TotalBlock customers have been affected because the letter got "chucked out". Stewart said there was no downside to TotalBlock business operations other than the perceived threat of stopping its mail-out service.

"The issue is, I think, at a higher level than being put on a black list by SpamCop, but we are still continuing to use People Telecom without further repercussions; however, the sequence of events is interesting to us," Stewart said.

"I think the process behind people being put on black lists is flawed as while it might get spammers they don't always mail from the same IP address and they are quite adept at managing their way around the black and white lists...Catching the good guys does not change anything.