Lazy network operators

Wed Apr 14 01:28:08 UTC 2004

>At 8:36 PM -0400 4/13/04, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:
>
>Now assume that someone in some strange and wondrous part of the world 
>has a similar need.  Are they authorized?  According to whom?

Steve, you're authorized if you say you are and agree to accept responsibility.
Most corporations would readily provide the addresses of their mail servers; 
anyone on DSL or cable connection could do the same.  But by changing the 
default behavior to block port 25 until requested, you could readily address the
spam problem.   It would take some work on the part of operator community
(hence the subject), and doesn't fit in the world wide commune perspective
of networking, but it would make the Internet far more useful for everyone.

/John