opti6600
08-22-2003, 09:59 PM
In a recent move that resounds more of an AOL Time Warner escapade ( as reported on slashdot (http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/13/2215207&mode=thread&tid=120) ) than something our Good Friends(TM) at Segway LLC would do, the Segway LLC email server today began blocking all mail inbound from dynamic IP addresses.
What's a dynamic IP address and what does it matter to me? Well, a dynamic IP address is the type you get from your DSL or cable internet provider each time you connect (it changes every time you connect to the Net). Now this is important because if you're running an email server from home, like myself and wavelengths, you'll find yourself incapable of communicating with Segway LLC through your server! I discovered this today when they apparently enabled a new spam- and virus-filter that happened to block all dynamic addresses! It should also be known that blocking IP addresses on a public email server is contrary to the applicable RFCs, which are common standards which are agreed upon to make the Web a Better Place.
Now one might say, well, hmm, isn't this the only way to protect our company, and Segway protecting its company from viruses like SoBig.F? The answer is no, all they're doing by blocking dynamic IP addresses is defending themselves against renegade groups of alternative energy student hackers (how evil we can be, cough). The most commonly accepted solution for virus protection is known as a "gateway", which scans messages for viruses as they pass into the network, a -much- more secure method than what is implemented through this blocking, also known as a "blacklisting" - which doesn't scan, but simply prohibits emails from coming in from home users, whereas an infected company could just as easily pass on infections like SoBig.F.
Segway, I'm calling on you to do the Right Thing here and get your IT department in line. This might be the cheapest, shortest-term solution to a few spam and virus problems, but you're certainly not making me, a customer, any happier. Nor does this shine a great light upon your customer relations - blocking home users who use their own servers at home to communicate via e-mail.
As I said in the opening, Segway isn't the only company to have done this, but I'll say that I don't easily throw LLC into the pile of companies like AOL and kin. This isn't the proper way to handle antivirus or spam-blocking in email, and it doesn't get brownie points from the technophiles over in my camp.
So to both Segway and any of you whose companies use similar blocking schemes, this particular band of renegade alternative energy "hackers" would be quite happy if you got into line with the standards, stopped making your customer's lives a circus show of circumvention, and open up your mail servers to the world again.
Waiting to see the day when I don't get a 553 from LLC,
Jordan Prevé
---------
Let's just take the safety labels off of everything and let America's problem sort itself out.
What's a dynamic IP address and what does it matter to me? Well, a dynamic IP address is the type you get from your DSL or cable internet provider each time you connect (it changes every time you connect to the Net). Now this is important because if you're running an email server from home, like myself and wavelengths, you'll find yourself incapable of communicating with Segway LLC through your server! I discovered this today when they apparently enabled a new spam- and virus-filter that happened to block all dynamic addresses! It should also be known that blocking IP addresses on a public email server is contrary to the applicable RFCs, which are common standards which are agreed upon to make the Web a Better Place.
Now one might say, well, hmm, isn't this the only way to protect our company, and Segway protecting its company from viruses like SoBig.F? The answer is no, all they're doing by blocking dynamic IP addresses is defending themselves against renegade groups of alternative energy student hackers (how evil we can be, cough). The most commonly accepted solution for virus protection is known as a "gateway", which scans messages for viruses as they pass into the network, a -much- more secure method than what is implemented through this blocking, also known as a "blacklisting" - which doesn't scan, but simply prohibits emails from coming in from home users, whereas an infected company could just as easily pass on infections like SoBig.F.
Segway, I'm calling on you to do the Right Thing here and get your IT department in line. This might be the cheapest, shortest-term solution to a few spam and virus problems, but you're certainly not making me, a customer, any happier. Nor does this shine a great light upon your customer relations - blocking home users who use their own servers at home to communicate via e-mail.
As I said in the opening, Segway isn't the only company to have done this, but I'll say that I don't easily throw LLC into the pile of companies like AOL and kin. This isn't the proper way to handle antivirus or spam-blocking in email, and it doesn't get brownie points from the technophiles over in my camp.
So to both Segway and any of you whose companies use similar blocking schemes, this particular band of renegade alternative energy "hackers" would be quite happy if you got into line with the standards, stopped making your customer's lives a circus show of circumvention, and open up your mail servers to the world again.
Waiting to see the day when I don't get a 553 from LLC,
Jordan Prevé
---------
Let's just take the safety labels off of everything and let America's problem sort itself out.