Re: [cobalt-users] using my Raq4r server as SMTP mail server

["Steve Werby" <steve-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Andy Davidson" <andy.d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > Here's an idea, which is never really discussed.  A 486 will be ample
spec
> > > to be a linux box in the corner of the office doing mail relay for
you.
> > Awesome idea.  That is, if your ISP doesn't block port 25.  Some ISPs
do.
>
> You're not tied to that ISP. ;-)
>
> If they do stupid things like that, then there really isn't a good reason
> to stay with them.

True in reality for dialup ISPs in the U.S.  And true in theory for DSL
ISPs, but not in reality.  Here in the U.S. it's a royal pain to switch ISPs
if you have DSL.  It's fairly likely you'll face a hefty termination fee,
you may incurr a hefty setup fee with the new ISP and a contract requiring
you to stay a year or more or face another round of termination fees.  And
it's quite likely you'll need to switch telcos which will mean you could
have no phone and no DSL for a lengthy period of time (weeks for the phone,
maybe even a couple of months for the DSL).  I suppose you could get DSL
through someone other than the telco, but those companies are dropping like
flies so you'd probably have to switch again soon when they go out of
business.

> OTOH, I know of one big ISP backed by a big telco in Leeds <ahem> that do,
> but they're good for letting mail on any from: line go through.
>
> What they do, is transparantly force all port 25 connections through their
> own smtp relay.  If a suspicious amount of mail comes from one host at
> once, the mail is blocked for human observance.
>
> If it's found to be spam, then, clickitty-click, it's gone.
>
> The ISP get the call revenue for all the time the spammer has been dialed
> up, and the spam does not get propagated.  Perfect !

Interesting.  I hadn't heard of anyone implementing something quite like
that!

--
Steve Werby
President, Befriend Internet Services LLC
http://www.befriend.com/