Deactivating the Forums on Sailquest. Due to the constant attacks by spambots, the Forums on Sailquest have become unmanageable, and in some cases, have stopped working properly. I am now looking for replacement software with adequate anti-spam features that will also allow people to post messages and ads without having to register. In the meantime, I am deactivating the various forums on Sailquest. This means people will no longer be able to register or post massages or ads. The current messages and ads may be viewable for a little while longer (until I am able to set up the new software). Some observations about spam and online forums. In the last year spammers have started targeting web-based discussion groups in a big way. They do this with spambots, custom software that is written for no other purpose than search out and spam certain types of discussion forums. Spambots are usually modified on a regular basis to overcome filters and mechanisms designed to keep them out. Needless to say, the system (phpBB) I have been using for the discussion forums on this site started picking up lots of spam. It reached the point where I had to set it so only registered users could make postings. However, many people (myself included) hate registering for forums and online services because of privacy issues, etc. Unfortunately, this registration requirement didn't stop the spammers. They simply registered and kept on spamming. By using a series of hijacked computers from around the world, it was almost impossible to trace the email address that they used to register with the forum. In the end, it was also becoming very difficult to differentiate between registrations by legitimate users and by spammers. Moreover, the phpBB software I have been using started preforming erratically. It is worth noting that one of the reason spammers have started targeting web-based forums is because Usenet discussion groups are falling into disuse. People have stopped using these groups because Usenet has been overwhelmed with spam. It is so bad that major Canadian Internet Service Providers such as Sympatico and Rogers no longer carry Usenet discussion groups. The end result is that spammers are effectively killing off what used to be a very vibrant part of the Internet. Thank you, Michael McGoldrick. Return Discussion to Sailquest.com