The group takes it upon itself to test networks for bad e-mail filters. Unlike its chief competitor, the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS), ORBS doesn't wait for spam complaints.
But the thousands of e-mails needed to poke and prod a system for weak links are apparently considered spam by AboveNet, one of its ISPs.
Unless it changes its ways, or switches to another ISP, AboveNet is planning to block ORBS e-mail, sources said Wednesday.
Although ORBS did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment, its defenders point out a curious connection between MAPS, AboveNet and anti-spam activist Paul Vixie.
AboveNet is owned by Metromedia Fiber Networks (mfnx), where Vixie is a senior vice president. Vixie is also a managing member of MAPS, which briefly added ORBS to its "black hole" list of supposed spammers last summer.
More than 20,000 companies subscribe to the MAPS list and routinely block e-mail traffic from companies on the list.
A spokesman for Vixie denied any wrongdoing.
"AboveNet has a perfect right to do this," said spokeswoman Kelly Thompson.
But ORBS has its enemies, too.
ORBS has gained a bad reputation among some anti-spam activists, according to David Wright, a Web pioneer who sits on a citizens advisory panel for a bulk e-mailing company.
"Many people consider ORBS an abusive organization," Wright said in an e-mail. Aside from probing sites for weaknesses, the group also publishes details that "possibly aid spammers who are looking for just such sites," Wright wrote.
