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

Hi again.

On the other hand... I do not think that blocking outbound access to a 3rd
party mail server is right. Sure, in general a user (without a static IP)
should use his ISP's outgoing mail server. But consider this VERY common
case: A user with a laptop which he uses both at home and at the office.

This user wants only one mail account setup on his laptop. So which ISP's
outbound mail server should he use - His home or office ISP's? It's a royal
pain to have to change it twice daily.

In this case, the best solution is generally to use the domain's mail server
in both cases. This server should be setup to "relay" for it's own
AUTHENICATED account holders. Note: Without the authentication requirement
it would be an "open relay". Since just about every mail client in use
today can be set to authenticate (or use "POP before send"), this is an easy
and secure fix.

But this won't work for customers of ISP's who block outbound access to a
3rd party mail server. If you find yourself in this situation, call the ISP
and ask them to add the server you are trying to connect to to their
exception list. If they won't then it's time to find a new ISP.

Just my opinion. :-)

John

    John Souvestre - Southern Star - (504) 888-3348 - www.sstar.com

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nolug@joeykelly.net [mailto:owner-nolug@joeykelly.net] On Behalf
Of Scott Harney
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 10:56 PM
To: nolug@joeykelly.net
Subject: Re: [Nolug] Cox's idea about fighting spam

On Tuesday 10 June 2003 10:41 pm, Charles Jouglard wrote:

> I am looking for my copy of the email. What it "should" say is "INBOUND"
> to your cable modem on port 25. As a means to stop mail servers on
> residential accounts.

Heck. you guys did that a long time ago. and then turned it off. For a
while
I sent my inbound email through another server MX that I had control of, it
would then forward to my email server listening on port 26. But eventually
I
just put it all on the first MX and POP3'd my mail from there. I noticed
some time later that 25 inbound opened again

> The email that I previewed was written correctly. That does not mean that
> some well meaning marketing type didn't make a typo before it was sent
> out....

It's more than a typo. "Beginning Thursday, June 12 we will filter
 access to all 3rd party outgoing (SMTP) mail servers." it then goes on to

explain how to set up Outlook express, etc.

Heck, it does make sense. What doesn't make sense is that there's no way
out.
And that's just one more filter. From the user's side, you have to wonder
where it will stop. I want high speed and I don't want my ISP doing any
filtering on my behalf. So it looks like I'll be seeking a new ISP since
Cox
appears to offer no alternative for consumers.

-- 
Scott Harney <scotth@scottharney.com>
"...and one script to rule them all."
gpg key fingerprint=7125 0BD3 8EC4 08D7 321D CEE9 F024 7DA6 0BC7 94E5
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