TMDA Re: [Gllug] New worm doing the rounds?

[Jason Clifford]

On Wed, 18 Feb 2004, will wrote:

> > It's more than convenience. The alternative is being forced into single 
> > supplier lock in. That will lead to effective monopolies if carried.
> 
> Um, which single supplier are you getting your SPF from?  Or are you 
> talking about having to use a single supplier for your SMTP services. 
> Well, if you use anything at ukfsn.org or anything at something.ukfsn.org you 
> are still using a single supplier, whoever you use for your SMTP.

I'm not talking about just the SMTP element. SPF has the potential to 
force users to use the same supplier for SMTP and their 'net connection 
and as email addresses tend to be harder to change wholesale it will lock 
in a lot of users to a single supplier for both elements.

No ukfsn user is forced to use our access services in order to send an 
email indicating the correct from address.

We already implement SMTP AUTH and a lot of our more savvy users already 
make use of the facility however UKFSN is not a typical ISP. The users are 
not, generally speaking, the same kind of users one might expect at AOL or 
other large ISPs.

In addition to running UKFSN I also run UKPOST.COM and offer similar 
services there. I get far more problems with UKPOST users when they want 
to use SMTP AUTH than UKFSN ones.

I don't see SPF being implemented liberally by very many sites. You've 
already indicated that you are considering using it to reject mail rather 
than as a scoring mechanism in a larger overall policy prior to rejecting 
messages.

Like you many others are seeking a solution now and the sad truth is that 
very many sites/domains are administered by people who lack your 
understanding and skills.

While I acknowledge many possible benefits from schemes like SPF the 
downsides are far too great from my perspective.

It's wroth remembering that for many of us the primary concern is 
fulfilling our roles are service providers and in my case that means 
making sure mail is delivered properly. Any scheme that prevents or 
substantially interfers with that is unlikely to gain my support.

For service providers there may also be legal implications to such schemes 
as implementing them amounts to interference in private communications.

Jason Clifford
-- 
UKFSN.ORG		Finance Free Software while you surf the 'net
http://www.ukfsn.org/	   ADSL Broadband from just £23.75 / month 

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