Spam Block, was Re: [TheForge] Band saw blade life

Fri Feb 6 13:15:00 2004

Michael Horgan wrote:

> >Interesting... My post on this subject was rejected...

Dave can probably get it straightened out.  In the meantime, try using
a different Earthlink server for your outgoing mail, say:

    gull.mail.pas.earthlink.net (207.217.120.84)
    tern.mail.pas.earthlink.net.(207.217.120.209)

both of which appear to be clean at SORBS.

> ...because it had 2 URLs in it...

Did you see something that said that?  Possibly the result of a
content filter at qth.net but unrelated to the SORBS DNSBL (Domain
Name Service BlackList).

> SMTP error from remote mailer after RCPT TO:<[email protected]>:
> host mailman.qth.net [63.238.179.60]: 554 Service unavailable; 
> [207.217.120.120] blocked using dnsbl.sorbs.net, reason:
> Spam Received See: 
> http://www.dnsbl.sorbs.net/cgi-bin/lookup?IP=207.217.120.120

The SORBS URL given shows that their spamtrap has received spam from
that particular IP address.  If you follow the URL, you'll see a
reference to "207.217.120.120\32", which is CIDR notation for a single
machine.  207.217.120.120 appears to be an Earthlink mail server.
Not surprising that at least a bit of spam leaked through it.

Can you change your own software configuration to route your outgoing
mail through a different SMTP server belonging to Earthlink?

Alan Waller is a reasonable person.  Several years ago he implemented
filtering based on a now defunct anti-spam service.  The reason the
service is defunct is in part due to the fact that its operator was
*not* a reasonable person. He had black-listed all of MIT's and Carnegie
Mellon's netspace because the admins at these prestigious universities
refused to configure their huge systems according to his rules.

When I contacted Alan, he agreed that blacklisting all of MIT and CMU
was not getting it quite right and changed his setup.  If you filter
on *all* of SORBS' lists, you're being a bit draconian but it sure
does cut down on the spam.

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
[email protected]                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^

-- 