Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 14, 2026

Spam Prevention Early Warning System

The Spam Prevention Early Warning System (SPEWS) was an anonymous, volunteer-operated service that maintained a list of IP address ranges belonging to internet service providers (ISPs) which host spammers and show little action to prevent their abuse of other networks' resources. It could have been used by Internet sites as an additional source of information about the senders of unsolicited bulk email traffic, commonly known as spam.

Last revised
Jun 14, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
176 w
Citations
4
Source

The Spam Prevention Early Warning System (SPEWS) was an anonymous, volunteer-operated service that maintained a list of IP address ranges belonging to internet service providers (ISPs) which host spammers and show little action to prevent their abuse of other networks' resources. It could have been used by Internet sites as an additional source of information about the senders of unsolicited bulk email traffic, commonly known as spam.12

The SPEWS database has not been updated since August 24, 2006. The dnsbl.com resource lists its status as dead.3 A successor, the Anonymous Postmaster Early Warning System (APEWS), appeared in January 2007,4 using similar listing criteria and a nearly identical web page.

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "Virus Targets Anti-Spam Warriors - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2003-12-04. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  2. Brunker, Mike (2003-10-30). "In the trenches of the 'spam wars'". NBC News. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  3. DNSBL lists SPEWS database status as dead
  4. APEWS announcement of SPEWS replacement
External links