[CW] Fw: Earthlink and arrl.net mail

[Fred Adsit]

This should make some of you just thrilled to death. I have written =
Earthlink a steaming complaint on their complaint page. Obviously no =
answer yet, too soon. The material below describes the fact that they =
KNOW ARRL.net is not generating spam, but are blocking all traffic from =
it anyway. Only a major flood of complaints by Earthlink users will do =
any good. I plan to phone their toll-free line tomorrow after I get an =
emailed response. It is the second-largest ISP in the world behind AOL =
(which is losing customers to Earthlink - don't jump too fast, AOLers).

NY2V

----- Original Message -----=20
From: Shelly, Barry, N1VXY=20
To: ny2v@earthlink.net=20
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 2:15 PM
Subject: Earthlink and arrl.net mail


We are sending this to you because you are an ARRL member who is
having e-mail forwarded through the arrl.net system to an e-mail
address at Earthlink.

The following is the draft of a story that is being posted today to
the ARRL web site. As an Earthlink subscriber, it affects you
directly as Earthlink will no longer accept e-mail traffic from
arrl.net. In their efforts to fight spam on the Internet, and using
their own internal analyses, they have identified the arrl.net as a
"spam source" and therefore, are blocking all messages including
valid e-mail that you want to receive.=20

We have tried to discuss the situation with Earthlink but they
refuse to change their position. They understand that the spam
doesn't originate with arrl.net but are pushing the problem back
upstream for someone else to resolve. This is despite the fact that
they have what they claim to be effective spam filters on their
computers and offer this service to their customers.=20

In responses to some ARRL members, they have also alleged that the
arrl.net is an "open relay" which is patently untrue. We have the
e-mail forwarding server configured specifically so it is not an
"open relay" which is more susceptible to being used to introduce
spam into the Internet.

We will continue to try and resolve the situation with Earthlink
but an immediate resolution is unlikely. If you would like to
continue to receive mail through arrl.net to your Earthlink
account, I would suggest you contact Earthlink directly as well.
They may be more willing to listen to 2,600 customers than they are
to listen to the ARRL.

If you have any questions I will try and answer them but I must ask
in advance for you patience as I will not be able to answer e-mails
from 2,600 members all at once.

Again, we will continue in our efforts to resolve the matter with
Earthlink and will post any changes in the situation to the ARRL
web page as they occur.

73,
Barry Shelley, N1VXY
Chief Financial Officer
ARRL, Inc.

Earthlink Still Delaying arrll.net e-mail

Despite several discussions with representatives of Earthlink and
changing stories from them on why they have instituted this action,
Earthlink continues to delay messages being forwarded from arrl.net
to earthlink.net addresses. As a result of Earthlink's actions,
ARRL cannot guarantee that messages forwarded from arrl.net to
members' e-mail addresses at Earthlink will be delivered.

At the root of the issue, is Earthlink's contention that the
arrl.net domain is a spam source based on their internal standards
and analysis. While they understand the concept of a simple mail
forwarding system like arrl.net, and admit that the spam is not
originating from it, they maintain their position that blocking all
messages, including valid e-mail, from this domain is an effective
tactic in their efforts to fight spam on the Internet. Earthlink
has told ARRL staff that they will continue to delay messages until
the amount of spam being sent through this system is reduced to a
level they deem acceptable.=20

Although we are attempting to contact the appropriate authorities
at Earthlink, the situation is currently at an impasse. We
understand and appreciate the inconvenience this represents to ARRL
members. Other large national ISPs have dealt with this specific
issue in a much more reasonable fashion once we were able to
contact them and explain the situation. Those ISPs as well as
hundreds of other smaller ones are accepting forwarded mail from
arrl.net. Earthlink, however, is not.

If you are one of the members affected by Earthlink's actions and
have another e-mail account with a different ISP, you can change
your e-mail address where your arrl.net is forwarded. This can be
done through the Member Data page on the ARRL Members' Only Web
site. Changes to this information is delivered automatically twice
daily so it may take several hours for the change to take effect.

You may also want to contact Earthlink individually if you do not
agree with their policies and tactics in this situation. E-mail can
be sent to abuse@abuse.earthlink.net.=20

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and we will continue to
try and resolve the situation with Earthlink.


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