8 NOV, 2004 - 1500 CDT A couple of weeks ago, I tried to get AOL to close down an "open relay" in their network that is allowing SPAM to be propagated on the Internet. Somebody is spoofing my return address on Spam messages and I get lots of "Returned mail: User unknown" SPAM - usually about 30 to 50 a day - all with the exact same text. All I can get from those bozo's are automated responses telling me that my message to them has HTML content. This can be true only if the full- header copy of the attached spam message has such content - link to a probably dubious web site. After several attempts to talk to a real person, I gave up hoping the problem would go away. Boy was I wrong!!! Today, I received 2648 identical "Returned Mail: User Unknown" messages from an AOL robot. This was the count before I interrupted my Eudora Pro email program - which damaged a lot of my email folder indexes. I did not loose any messages, but I have now spent about two hours cleaning up the mess. I will be posting a message to all Central Division members telling them why those few people still using AOL email addresses will no longer be able to send me a message. The only way I can stop this onslaught is to reject all AOL addresses - which I will do before the day is over. I have had it with AOL! They won't keep their own house in order and they make it virtually impossible to contact a real person who could fix this problem. - Dick Isely, W9GIG