METROCAST BLOCKS RESIDENTIAL E-MAIL

[aluminumsulfate at earthlink.net]

   From: "Brian" <gnhlug at karas.net>
   Subject: RE: METROCAST BLOCKS RESIDENTIAL E-MAIL
   Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 16:20:40 -0500

   I think there is a reason the OP put OUTBOUND in all caps.  This isn't about
   running your own SMTP server at home, it's about using a non-Metrocast SMTP
   server to SEND mail to others.

Exactly.  *My* MTA doesn't allow connections from non-local hosts.
But in certainly expects email to be available on port 25 on the
Internet....  And, since RFC 822 was one of the earliest Internet
standards, people have kinda grown to depend on it...

If someone I correspond with wants to MX all their incoming mail
through their ISP's mail server, that's their choice and their right.
But I shouldn't be forced, by *my* ISP, to add an extra server hop to
*every* email message I send.

   In the last 10 years I've been actively using an internet connection, I've
   *never* used my ISP's mail servers.  I've always had my own domain(s) hosted
   somewhere, and sent emails through my own servers. 

Given what Metroca$t has done, your setup would not work from my
location.  You'd have to configure your MX on a non-standard port,
because the traffic between my feed and the MX (even if you own it!)
would be squelched by my I$P.

   Sending an email through your own/alternate server should not be prevented.

I have to say Amen! to that... But I have to take it one step further:

Sending an email through your own/alternate server should not be
prevented, *just because your ISP does not consider you a business*.

Implicit in their restriction of outbound traffic is the insinuation
that residential customers do not deserve real, uncensored, access to
the Internet.  Since the filtering of port 25 does not exist on
so-called "business" accounts, this policy further implies that only
businesses are entitled to unrestricted *Internet* access.

   From: Christopher Schmidt <crschmidt at crschmidt.net>
   To: gnhlug-discuss at mail.gnhlug.org
   Subject: Re: METROCAST BLOCKS RESIDENTIAL E-MAIL
   Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2006 16:21:24 -0500

   said most. And I stand by that statement: The number of zombie windows
   boxes on any given network is likely higher than the number of persons
   working from home on the network.

Minority does not imply unimportance.  I'm probably the only person in
the state of New Hampshire who can speak the language Lojban.  That
doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to speak it. http://www.lojban.org

   From: Python <python at venix.com>
   Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 16:29:37 -0500

   That's really just an excuse for not knowing the customers and their
   needs.  Port blocking, inbound and outbound can be a legitimate part of
   the service.  Inbound blocking provides a firewall.  Outbound blocking

In fact, email is *such* an integral part of the Internet, I have to
ask if, by filtering 25out, they are breaking their obligation to
provide something called "Internet access".

   protects the "neighborhood" from incompetence.  However, the

Right.  But that's not my incompetence, and they're blocking *me*.  If
they blocked 25out per-IP, I'd be fine with that.  If I erroneously
got filtered, I could call and have the block removed.  But assuming
that all your customers are incompetent is arrogant and prejudicial,
not to mention rude.

   unwillingness to customize and tailor the service to fit customer needs
   is mostly laziness and the expectation that they can get away with it.

It's that latter part... "the expectation that they can get away with
it" that I intend to prove wrong.  And I believe together, we can make
them realize their mistake (and correct it).