Is the .to (Tonga) domain completely rogue and should be removed?

Wed Sep 30 20:39:54 UTC 1998

Yeah well, you probably have to *pay* for relaying. This is actualy of
some value to spammers since its relatively easy to shut down a relay;
I have actually seen spam advertising 'spam friendly' ISPs that offer
relaying services. 

Gut 'em all, I say.

On Wed, Sep 30, 1998 at 03:40:15PM -0400, Alex Kamantauskas wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Sep 1998, Barry Shein wrote:
> 
> > 
> > In support of this assertion I want to show you an SMTP conversation
> > with what claims to be the Consulate of the Government of Tonga in San
> > Francisco (This San Francisco office is listed as an official Tongan
> > contact point for visas etc by the US State Dept):
> > 
> > world% telnet sfconsulate.gov.to 25
> > Trying 209.24.51.169...
> > Connected to sfconsulate.gov.to.
> > Escape character is '^]'.
> > 220 colo.to SMTP ready, Who are you gonna pretend to be today?
> > VRFY postmaster
> > 500 Bloody Amateur! Proper forging of mail requires recognizable SMTP commands!
> > 
> > --------------------
> 
> Well, beyond the cutesy error messages, at least relaying is turned off.
> 
> fz(alexk):[~] telnet sfconsulate.gov.to 25
> Trying 209.24.51.169...
> Connected to sfconsulate.gov.to.
> Escape character is '^]'.
> 220 colo.to SMTP ready, Who are you gonna pretend to be today?
> helo tugger.net
> 250 colo.to Is thrilled beyond bladder control to meet tugger.net
> mail from: alexk at tugger.net
> 250 sender is alexk at tugger.net, (yeah sure, it's probably forged)
> rcpt to: alexk at freetld.net
> 550 NOPE UNKNOWN(204.168.18.98), I don't allow unauthorized relaying.
> 
> 
> > 
> > Viewing the web page for the Tongan Consulate in the US
> > (http://sfconsulate.gov.to) reveals nothing but an ad for a software
> > company, this page ends with:
> > 
> >    Need a domain name? Contact the Kingdom of Tonga Internet domain name
> >                                  registry.
> > 
> > --------------------
> > 
> > Consequently, I assert there is no reason for this domain to exist and
> > it should be removed from the root name servers.
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> >         -Barry Shein
> > 
> > Software Tool & Die    | bzs at world.std.com          | http://www.world.com
> > Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 617-739-0202        | Login: 617-739-WRLD
> > The World              | Public Access Internet     | Since 1989     *oo*
> > -
> > Send 'unsubscribe' in the body to 'list-request at inet-access.net' to leave.
> > Eat sushi frequently.   inet at inet-access.net is the human contact address.
> > 
> 
> -- 
> Alex Kamantauskas
> Tugger Networks