From: Pat Inniss (inniss@sprynet.com)
Date: Mon Jun 30 2003 - 18:32:36 MDT
AOL has blocked e-mail from EarthLink several times, sometimes for days
before it was corrected. Their explanation was that their spam filters
kick in when a certain, undisclosed number of messages are received
simultaneously from a single IP. It didn't really have anything to do
with whether the server was an open relay (a mail server that will send
mail from any requestor) or not. None of the EarthLink servers were open
relays, although it is not inconceivable that a spammer might have sent
e-mail through one of their servers. AOL apparently just has a system
that is sensitive to volume, and that's the primary criterion it uses to
ID spam. When that threshold is breached, it blocks everything from the
sending IP, although sometimes they do appear to block specific domains
in the sender's address. A couple of years ago it took EarthLink ten
days to sort it out with AOL, so fixes don't necessarily happen quickly.
This isn't anything that unusual. AOL has a reputation for blocking
traffic from e-mail lists. Check out http://www.mailinglists.org/aol/.
Regards,
Pat Inniss
inniss@sprynet.com
http://home.sprynet.com/~inniss
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-extropians@extropy.org [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org]
On Behalf Of BillK
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 3:21 PM
To: extropians@extropy.org
Subject: Re: META: aol.com is blocking all mail from extropy.org
David,
http://members.aol.com/adamkb/aol/mailfaq/#receiving
The Unofficial AOL Email FAQ notes this problem:
Another error, which began appearing in the late summer of 2000, looks
like:
----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----
<screenname@aol.com>
----- Transcript of session follows -----
... while talking to air-yg03.mail.aol.com.:
>>> RCPT To:<screenname@aol.com>
<<< 550 DIRECT CONNECTION FROM DIAL-UP OR DYNAMIC-IP DENIED
550 <screenname@aol.com>... User unknown
In this case, the mail is being rejected because AOL believes it is
being sent directly from someone's computer, rather than through their
ISP's legitimate mail server, a common sign of malicious or abusive
email. This can be fixed by them using a stable, legitimate mail server.
---------------
So AOL has decided it doesn't like extropy.org
Further research at:
http://postmaster.info.aol.com/mailer.html
produces -
550 - The IP address you're using to connect to AOL is either open to
the free relaying of e-mail, is serving as an open proxy, or is a
dynamic (residential) IP address. AOL cannot accept further e-mail
transactions from your server until either your server is closed to free
relaying/proxy, or your ISP removes your IP address from their list of
dynamic IP addresses. For additional information, please visit
http://postmaster.info.aol.com.
If you are receiving the above bounce message, please check our Dial Up
List search page, our open relay search page, and our open proxy search
page to determine which of the above scenarios is causing your email
issue.
-------------
Your IP is not on the Dial Up List database. So the problem is probably
on the AOL open relay list or the open proxy list.
I can't check this as AOL will reply to your IP address, so go to
http://postmaster.info.aol.com/mailer.html
and you will probably be able to get closer to a solution.
Best of luck, BillK
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon Jun 30 2003 - 18:42:07 MDT