The changes discussed here primarily concern improvements made to the backend and the hosting API XML.

As you surely know, we do not have any marketing team, and we do not engage in publicity. The (very good) growth that we have experienced in recent years is exclusively due to word-of-mouth, or in other words: you!

One of our highest priorities is to provide you with an irreproachable level of customer service.

Whether you are a fan of SiteMaker or just getting started, you are absolutely going to love the latest release of SiteMaker!
The new version provides you with a larger work space that is clearer and easier to use. We have also added powerful new features such as tools for Google, the ability to insert HTML code directly into your website, and a total overhaul of the member system.

For those following this story, it’s been a pretty confusing and unsettling ordeal. And we’re certainly sorry for the part we played and adding to the confusion. But this was a play with many players, so let us set out below what happened and why. The major players in this drama were: Gandi.net (us), Moxie (the customer) and Comodo (the SSL technology provider). I could add the the Easter weekend, but I won't. And everyone played a part in this going wrong and shares some of the responsibility. We’ll set out why below.

And meet the crew that gives Gandi that special touch?

We did it: at 3:59:53 PM (CET) Gandi officially hit 1,000,000 domain names.

Seeing as this is an issue that is now affecting some of our customers, we thought we’d write a quick post to let you know what is going on. As those of you who know Gandi.net will know, our entire history has been about being fair to our customers and taking a stand against the shady practices of the domain name industry, and the internet industry in general. This of course includes anti-spam policies, and indeed we support SpamHaus which is an anti-spam organisation (http://www.gandi.net/supports/)

So it is with surprise and regret that we must tell you that we have been blacklisted by SORBS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_and_Open_Relay_Blocking_System) for “harbouring spammers”, a charge which I’m sure you can agree is unlikely.

This situation has arisen because of our customer protection processes that are core to our beliefs. Where a customer of ours is a spammer, then we will of course take action. We don’t protect spammers.

But we cannot take action against a customer until we are provided with proof that they actually are a spammer. The requirement of proof is something that we keep strict. There are many situations where complaints by one party against another without proof have led to action by domain companies which is hasty (http://news.cnet.com/2100-1025_3-6153607.html, and an article written about this and registrar complaint procedures following the action http://news.cnet.com/Survey-Are-domain-registrars-free-speech-friendly---page-2/2100-1025_3-6155614-2.html?tag=mncol)

So when you want to make a complaint about a domain or a customer of ours, please do (abuse at gandi.net), but you will require proof. And by proof we mean original and complete documentation showing the offense. In the case of spam, this must be full and complete email headers, and not extracts or a sample, or a cut and paste of something. The original headers please.

Similarly, we cannot take action based solely on circumstantial evidence that a given domain or individual may or may not be simply associated in some form with another person or entity, nor on the basis of simply subjective opinion.

Once we have this proof, we kick off our procedures. Immediately.

Anyway, back to SORBS. So back in December we were blacklisted by SORBS without notice. The SORBS process seems to be that you are blacklisted first, then you can have a conversation, and finally you can pay to be removed from their blacklist (see ‘criticism’ section http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_and_Open_Relay_Blocking_System).

We had two objectives at this stage;

1. 1. Understand why we were blacklisted and take appropriate action
2. 2. Get off the blacklist

For part 1, we required proof that an offense had taken place by our customer. SORBS initially did not provide complete and original proof of the spamming domains and the spam email. They wanted us to take action based on their assertion. It took many requests and replies before we were finally able to get the original documentation that they had in their possession all along.

Once we had this documentation, we have kicked off our RIP process to contact the customer and begin proceedings. The issue is still not clear cut, as no spam originated from Gandi, or the domains we host, but 2 domains we host were mentioned in the spam. We will investigate and let you know. So that’s part 1 done.

But for Part 2, we are still blacklisted. It seems the only way to be removed from the blacklist is to make a donation to a legal defence fund for a case won in 2002. We will not pay to be white-listed, this is just not the way we work. We will continue to follow this up with SORBS, but we cannot be sure of the outcome. Why they couldn’t speak first, punish later is still unclear. But paying to be removed is just not Gandi.

We regret that this has led to us being blacklisted, but we make no apology as we would do it all again. We will protect our customers rights until we have proof they have offended. Innocent until proven guilty. Is this so strange?

Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause any of you, but we thought we should explain.