[Gllug] AOL blocks mail from 'dynamic' addresses

[Jason Clifford]

On 18 Jun 2003, Xander Harkness wrote:

> A company I do some consulting work for has just been hit by the lame
> attempt by AOL to reduce spam.

Yes AOL and other ISPs are now using RBLs based upon large blocks of IP 
addresses listed as dialup and ADSL assigned.

The lists include static IPs in ADSL blocks.

The reasoning for this is that a large percentage of spam is now being 
send from or through ADSL/cable systems which are often poorly configured.

The solution is to relay email addressed to AOL and the other appropriate 
ISPs via your own ISP's smtp server.

If your ISP does not provide an SMTP server you could register a Standard+ 
account with UKFSN (£15/year) which will provide you access to an 
authenticated SMTP service.

> My first reaction was to block all incoming email from AOL with an error
> message explaining the problems with AOL's new policy; however the users
> are not clued up enough to actually read an error message.

This is the wrong reaction. While the AOL policy is hard to justify as it 
is too broad an approach the fact remains that it is an effective means of 
reducing the amount of spam they received and many people would consider 
it a good thing from that perspective.

Jason Clifford
-- 
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