SpamFilter plugin shouldn't tell spammers which words were blocked

[Adrian Holovaty <holovaty@…>]

I just installed the SpamFilter plugin on code.djangoproject.com, and it works well. Nice work!

One thing, though. When the filter rejects spam according to the BadContent filter list, it displays a TracError saying which word/phrase was rejected. Example:

Rejecting spam: viagra

I think this plugin would be more crafty if it didn't tell spammers why their tickets/comments were rejected. Keep them guessing. Waste their time.

In fact, it might even be nice to block their comments but still give them a "Thanks for posting a comment" message, implying it worked properly. I have used this technique in the past, and it's not only effective, it just plain *feels good* to deceive the spammers.

(I'm not sure whether this is the right place to file this ticket. If not, please let me know whom I should contact. Thanks for this plugin, and thanks for Trac!)

[Christian Boos]

This is the right place to discuss the SpamFilter plugin. However, while you have some valid points, your suggestion doesn't take into account the "false positive" cases. Users who enter some valid content which, for some reasons, gets rejected, must be properly informed about what's going on.

[Adrian Holovaty <holovaty@…>]

Good point, cboos. Maybe it could be configurable?

[Christian Boos]

Well, I think it's more important to try to annoy the valid users the less possible than to try to deceive the spammers. Anyway, if they are "human" spammers as opposed to spammer scripts, they can as well go to the BadContent page and read it ;-)