MovableType version 2.661 has been released. The release aimed completely to fix spam comments problem. New anti-spam weapon includes:
We've included a throttling measure so that comments from the same IP address can only be posted every N seconds, where N is configurable (documentation on the setting that controls N).Gooooood!
We've also added a measure to automatically ban an IP address based on an abnormal number of comments from the same address in a short period of time.Sweet!
Of course, there are no perfect defenses, and if you're truly concerned about the comments on your weblog, the best defense is prevention by closing old comment threads.Actually I was thinking about closing comments on old postings, but I'm still not sure I want it. I like (real, not troll/spam) comments too much, that's the feedback I really need.
Also in 2.66, we've changed the behavior of <$MTCommentAuthorLink$> to use redirects when linking to URLs given in comments. The goal of this is to defeat the PageRank boost given to spammers by posting in the comments on a weblog.Also interesting one. Hope it'll help. Well done, Six Apart! Upgraded my blog as usual smoothly in just one minute. Unfortunately this pack of anti-spam fixes didn't include my favorite one - "Delete this post" link in notification mail. This small (3 lines of Perl) patch includes "Delete this post" link into new comment notification mail. So whenever MT notifies me on new comment posted and I see it's viagra ad I can delete it in just one click. Ok, patched new release again, no big deal.
Now I only wait for the next spam attack to see what happens...