The spam blacklist Nixspam (ix.dnsbl.manitu.net) from iX magazine and the hoster manitu has been switched off. Since 16.01.2025, the DNS blacklist no longer contains any entries. All blacklist responses now only return "no spam" as the result of the check.
As the nixspam blacklist was used by many AntiSpam systems, it should now be checked whether nixspam is still in use. The list is still available for at least 6 months, but no longer delivers any hits. Therefore, this blacklist no longer provides any protection against SPAM. The following text can be found on the heise website regarding the background to the shutdown:
The non-profit project was a joint effort by manitu, iX and others, who took up the race against the spammers with expertise and commitment over more than two decades. Heise Medien appeared in the legal notice of the Nixspam website as the operator and acted as a contact and legal safeguard. The company withdrew as operator in 2024. The web host manitu looked into continuing to operate the website on its own responsibility, but it turned out to be uneconomical to protect against the expected legal risks due to the GDPR and NIS2, among other things, as manitu Managing Director Manuel Schmitt explains. explains in his blog.
Source: DNS blacklist Nixspam ceases operation
The following quote can be found in the linked blog article:
Solange Heise als Betreiber der Blacklist auftrat, war es eine relativ sichere Bank, denn vermutlich hätte es sich jeder zweimal überlegt, ob er sich mit denen anlegen will, z.B. wenn er auf der Blacklist gelandet ist. Das sähe, wären wir der Betreiber, sicher anders aus: Man stelle sich nur mal vor, ein Marktbegleiter wäre darauf. Dann kommen viele weitere §§ ins Spiel – non-profit hin oder her.
Source: The era of ix.dnsbl.manitu.net comes to an end
Bei diesem Punkt haben Anwälte und Versicherer abgewunken: Das Kosten-Risiko ist immens – bei 0 „Einnahmen“.
I am now asking myself how other blacklist operators are doing, as there are other blacklist operators in the EU (e.g. NordSpam or Blocklist.de). Apparently it is difficult to operate a DNS backlist, which is usually configured voluntarily and queried by users, without having to fear legal consequences. In any case, it is a shame that a service like nixspam, which has worked very reliably for 20 years, is being shut down because of possible legal risks.
I suspect that this is not how the laws were conceived. Perhaps a secure legal basis should be created here. If the operation of blacklists can no longer be guaranteed without risks, a simple and effective means of blocking spam and malware will no longer be available, and in my opinion this should be prevented at all costs.