[Premium-Rx] Preliminary diagnosis regarding recent mystery bounces

[refmon]

Hi list!!

Keeping in mind that I know absolutely nothing about what I'm about to say, following is a loose preliminary diagnosis formed with the help of no less than a dozen list members and Jan Skirrow, one of the original list founders:

The original problem, as we saw it in real-time, was that 14 list members were simultaneously suspended from list distributions due to excessive email bounces.  Normally one or two such suspensions would not be alarming, as they happen all the time when a member changes email accounts and forgets to update the Premium-RX profile.  (safety tip:  try not to forget to do that).  However, 14 seemingly unrelated members being suspended simultaneously caught our attention.  We originally assumed the problem was with the Premium-RX system, so we immediately recruited assistance.  Shortly thereafter we discovered while trying to contact these members, that they all bounce no matter what domain is trying to contact them.  Hmmmm...maybe the problem is elsewhere?  

The most important tip coming from all the member-advisors was to examine the headers on each suspended email in extreme detail...Jan Skirrow has done so and finds that while not all bouncers are with the same ISP, they are all offshore from the US perspective.  Two members are with the same ISP...that ISP cannot be contacted....Hmmmmm.  In the end, it appears that while one or two of the ISP's involved may be toast, the more likely situation is that there has been a major reconfiguration or software/policy change somewhere in offshore cyberspace, which somehow has killed the 14 addresses...not to overlook that a few days later I flagged 4 more addresses simultaneously suspended...same findings.

So, with the help of the kind members who volunteered their hard-learned knowledge, we are taking the position that the problem is not in the Premium-RX system, rather it is outside our view of the cyberworld.  Regrettably, we cannot reach the effected individuals...they will have to realize the issue themselves and deal with finding a solution.

If more information or more detail develops, I will pass it along.

Final findings:  This is not our fault, and anyway, I was off that day!

best to all 

and many thanks

John Collins
moderator, Premium-RX

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