ingress SMTP

Thu Sep 4 18:57:30 UTC 2008

On Thu, Sep 04, 2008 at 02:01:48PM +1200, Mark Foster wrote:
> So in terms of the OP,
> I don't see why joe-user on a dynamic-IP home connection should need the
> ability to use port 25 to talk to anywhere but their local ISP SMTP server
> on a normal basis[1]. 

Whats a normal basis? 

My Home ISP won't let me send to more than 200 (or so) email addresses
per day.  If I used my ISP's email system I would constantly be losing
my email service due to hitting the limit.

I do the field scheduling for my local town soccer league. 
[Never volunteer!  :-)   ]

So when I send a few announcements out to coaches, referees and
administrators, I hit that limit and get my email shutoff for two days
or so.  I eventually switched to MailHop at DynDNS (smtp auth)

I would have used port 25 but our ISP has begun blocking outbound
port 25 nationwide, due to large amount of outbound spam from their
customers. :-) 

> Theyre not doing MX lookups so theyre not going
> direct to remote MTAs[2].  Regardless of where they got the mail _from_,
> the outbound mail should be via SMTP to their local SMTP server.[3]
> 
> If you separate inbound (pop3) and outbound (smtp) mail delivery in your
> thinking you can start to make sense of things (from a users perspective).
> This is always the tack i've taken when trying to educate users about why
> their email outbound doesn't work when theyre moving from ISP to ISP.
> (At which point you offer them your authenticated-another-way service,
> such as 587 with SMTP auth).
> 
> [1] Customers with a specific need to do so should have the means to
> opt-out. I believe most of the ISPs in NZ who block 25-outbound from
> clients also offer this option.
> 
> [2] Customers doing MX lookups are either drones or people with mail
> servers at home. The former are obviously the target of the block. The
> latter are likely going to be any one of:
> 
> - Blocked by SORBS or similar as a dynamic IP
> - Running a mail server in breach of AUP
> - On a fixed IP and (theoretically) capable of securing their system and
> not being a drone or open mail relay (and being traceable via their ISP).
> 
> [3] Note also [2].  Outbound mail is associated with your ISP and their
> SMTP service. Has nothing to do with inbound mail.  Nothing. Nada. Zip.
> 
> Or doesn't the rest of the world think like this?
> 
> Mark.
> 
> PS: It occurs to me that SPF has an influence here, if you're aggressively
> using it then you should also be offering alternatives to Port 25 SMTP.
> IMHO.
> 

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