Earthlink.net - Value.net

[Mark Welch]

I have now confirmed that email from earthlink.net customers is not
reaching my account at value.net -- can anyone suggest why this might
occur? Earthlink.net customers are receiving my email, but their
replies just don't get to value.net's servers, nor do they bounce.

Any advice is welcome (and yes, I am considering the obvious of
discontinuing the value.net address).

[Gandalf Parker]

Many ISPs are part of one or another of the automated listings for
blocking spam mail. When spam is received at a central site
then its sent address is added to the blocking list which then
updates all of the ISPs who subscribed.

Many free, cheap, or trial-offer sites get used by spammers
who know they will be kicked off. The site must then
request removal from the ban list. I just guessing but
it sounds like Value might have Earthlink blocked.

Gandalf Parker

[John Navas]

[POSTED TO ba.internet]
In <3991A0CE...@community.net>, Gandalf Parker
<gan...@community.net> wrote:

No ISP worthy of the name should *ever* block by tossing (the apparent
situation here) -- blocked mail should *always* be bounced.

--
Best regards,
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/>
CABLE MODEM/DSL GUIDE: <http://Cable-DSL.home.att.net/>

[Gandalf Parker]

John Navas wrote:

> No ISP worthy of the name should *ever* block by tossing (the
> apparent situation here) -- blocked mail should *always* be bounced.

Pros and Cons. Personally I think its a mistake for any ISP to block
or refuse any incoming messages which are addressed to the user.
But as long as some users will leave for having their mailbox
full of spam (instead of fixing it) then you will have ISPs try
to help them out by doing sokmething about it.

As for block or bounce.....
A message hits an ISPs sendmail server from some spammer who
has one of those "65 million addresses" CD's. The message
is addressed to 1000 users on that ISP. Of those only half
are still good addresses. So 500 of them create bounce mails
which quote the entire sent message. The spammers address
is no good which then creates a bounce message back to the
sender of the bounce message. These actions stay in the
mail queue for usually a minimum of 5 days with the sendmail
machine re-trying to inform the user that their (spam) mail
failed to reach the recipient. Many systems try to flush
the mail queue every 15 minutes. How many pieces of spam do
you get a day? Ive seen more than one ISPs sendmail server
get full or CPU loaded for no other reason than trying to
bounce undelivered spam.

Blocking is not a good answer. Its not user friendly.
It can cause good emails to get lost in the system.
But then so can the original spam-control effort.

Gandalf Parker
Any similarity between the opinions expressed and those
of my wife, my employer, my ISP, and any type of
majority will be fixed immeadiately upon notification.