Re: [Nolug] Cox's idea about fighting spam

Thou spake:
>I haven't received such an email from Cox, and I am a Cox
>customer.
>
>However, i've been told cox does not block port 21 incoming,
>but they indeed block port 21 incoming.
>
>I think, it's my connection, I pay for it, let me do what I
>want with it. I'm not abusing it, I don't host services
>for public consumption. I can always use a different port.
>
>What gives?

Dunno about port 21, but as I understand it, port 80 was blocked in the last
year or so by many ISPs due to code red and nimda, and port 25 due to some
email-borne affliction, and to a lesser extent the prevalence of spammers
setting up fly-by-night operations. Cox was one of those that did this.

You can certainly set up your webserver on port 81 (or 8008 or 8080, which
makes more sense) and unless you attract undue attention, your ISP probably
won't bother you. As far as email goes, you can choose an alternate port, but
no one would ever be able to send you mail.

On a related note, perhaps some of you remember the story on slashdot about
the freeswan project being able to do opportunistic encryption. I know
several ppl that have set this up, and I plan on doing so as well, as time
permits. IPsec operated on layer 3, whereas specific ports live on layer 4.
If you encrypt all traffic for a given session, no one (Cox or otherwise)
would be able to detect nor block your mail and web servers on ports 25 and
80. You would be able to send email to anyone also running said encryption.
How useful this feature would be with regard to evading port blockage is up
for debate. Opportunistic encryption as a matter of habit is certainly a wise
idea, however, for a whole slough (archaic spelling, because I can ;-P) of
reasons.

-- 
Joey Kelly
< Minister of the Gospel | Computer Networking Consultant >
http://joeykelly.net
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
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