[ale] e-mail address harvesting from web pages

[Nathan J. Underwood]

I hate to throw my ignorance out there for all to see, but what about using
Javascript to hide your e-mail address.  Use the onclick event to create a link
dynamically, and use the text name AT domain (nathan at cybertechcafe for
example) so that it looks (even to our somewhat technoplegic users) like a link,
but that the harvesting computer doesn't see as anything more than text?

Quoting Christopher Bergeron <christopher at bergeron.com>:

> John, I've had good success (thus far) by visually obfuscating my email 
> address my website.  Something to the effect of:
> cbergeron [at] somedomain [dot] NOSPAM com is what I currently use.  A 
> reader will most likely be able to easily figure out the email address, 
> and some easier obfuscation on the "mailto:" anchor tag will give your 
> less informed readers a little bit of a lead in how to send you email.  
> You'll ultimately come down to a user intellect level with your email 
> address.  By making your email address so obvious that any idiot can use 
> it, you'll open yourself up to machines that can do the same.  By 
> providing a layer of required human intellect, you may isolate the 
> lesser IQ'd individuals (ala, you can't use a true mailto: anchor), but 
> you'll make it more difficult for harvesters to email you as well...
> 
> Just my .02 pfenning -
> -CB
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> John Mills wrote:
> 
> >ALErs -
> >
> >On reading a recent Consumer Reports article on spam, one person whose 
> >e-mail I post on an organization's web site asked that I either take some 
> >measures to impede harvesting addresses from our web site, or that I 
> >remove his address. He suggested a graphic image instead of text.
> >
> >I am concerned that redoing text pages as graphics will cause me more work 
> >(though not overwhelmingly more, as I only update this fram annually), and 
> >that its legibility would depend greatly on each viewer's browser setup.
> >
> >I suggested three alternatives:
> >(1) Post the page as PDF (though my colleague expects that would soon be 
> >cracked), or
> >(2) Routing the replies through some forwarding pointer to a single 
> >officer whose unhappy duty it would be to dump the spam while forwarding 
> >inquiries to appropriate club officers (not preventing spam, but shielding 
> >the recipient's actual address), or
> >(3) Presenting the user-name and mail domain in separate entries of a 
> >column, requiring correspondents to reassemble the address in order to 
> >write.
> >
> >I assume any measure we take will eliminate the possibility of 'click here 
> >to write' e-mail.
> >
> >How are other people handling this issue?
> >
> >TIA.
> > 
> > John Mills
> > john.m.mills at alum.mit.edu
> >
> >
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> >
> >
> >  
> >
> 
> 
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-- 
Nathan J. Underwood
nathan at cybertechcafe.net
http://www.cybertechcafe.net
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