bear
07-17-2006, 10:56 PM
Just a note to let members know that we've just this evening moved this forum board to a new server.
Why would you do this?
Well, as it turns out, quite a few of our members are using Frontiernet.net as their ISP (Internet Service Provider) and the email they used to register here is on that domain. Unfortunately, someone within the same range of IP addresses (the numerical address of a domain name, more or less) was sending spam to that ISP. They claimed it was a lot, but only showed us a few as proof.
So how did this wind up affecting us here?
Frontiernet.net, in an effort to keep their users from receiving spam mail (a good cause, but very difficult to achieve), decided it was best to block a large amount of IP addresses that were located at the same server datacenter where our server was located instead of just the IP addresses that were actually sending the spam. Sure, it stopped the spam, along with what would amount to a large number of emails that thier clients may never know disappeared, including mail from this forum for registrations, and post reminders and so on. :eek:
We tried working it out with their abuse department, but they were steadfast in their opinion that it's best to block a large amount of people from sending *any* mail than for thier clients to get spam. Frankly, I'm glad I don't use that ISP. I'd rather sort my own junk mail than to miss something I wanted to receive. Don't know how you all feel about it.
So, how many IP addresses/domains were blocked here?
Hard to say with any certainty, but to give you an idea, it began with blocking 64 addresses.
64 doesn't sound like many. What's the problem?
In the case of my one IP that was affected, that was a shared IP that had quite a few accounts on it. No domain hosted on that IP could connect to their mail server. A single shared IP can house hundreds of small domains with ease...multiplied by 64, that's a lot.
Does this fix the issue forever?
Maybe not forever, but we're hoping the concept of being less heavy handed will occur to this ISP when it comes to handling spam issues. There may come a day when they find someone "in our neighborhood" who's spamming again, and do the same thing to this new IP range we're currently living on.
So, that's it. We've moved, mail is once again flowing, and all is right in the world. Let's hear from some of you. m'kay? It's a poll: would you prefer to worry about filtering out the junk mail yourself, or let someone else do it for you and possibly miss "good" messages. Is it worth missing valid email?
Why would you do this?
Well, as it turns out, quite a few of our members are using Frontiernet.net as their ISP (Internet Service Provider) and the email they used to register here is on that domain. Unfortunately, someone within the same range of IP addresses (the numerical address of a domain name, more or less) was sending spam to that ISP. They claimed it was a lot, but only showed us a few as proof.
So how did this wind up affecting us here?
Frontiernet.net, in an effort to keep their users from receiving spam mail (a good cause, but very difficult to achieve), decided it was best to block a large amount of IP addresses that were located at the same server datacenter where our server was located instead of just the IP addresses that were actually sending the spam. Sure, it stopped the spam, along with what would amount to a large number of emails that thier clients may never know disappeared, including mail from this forum for registrations, and post reminders and so on. :eek:
We tried working it out with their abuse department, but they were steadfast in their opinion that it's best to block a large amount of people from sending *any* mail than for thier clients to get spam. Frankly, I'm glad I don't use that ISP. I'd rather sort my own junk mail than to miss something I wanted to receive. Don't know how you all feel about it.
So, how many IP addresses/domains were blocked here?
Hard to say with any certainty, but to give you an idea, it began with blocking 64 addresses.
64 doesn't sound like many. What's the problem?
In the case of my one IP that was affected, that was a shared IP that had quite a few accounts on it. No domain hosted on that IP could connect to their mail server. A single shared IP can house hundreds of small domains with ease...multiplied by 64, that's a lot.
Does this fix the issue forever?
Maybe not forever, but we're hoping the concept of being less heavy handed will occur to this ISP when it comes to handling spam issues. There may come a day when they find someone "in our neighborhood" who's spamming again, and do the same thing to this new IP range we're currently living on.
So, that's it. We've moved, mail is once again flowing, and all is right in the world. Let's hear from some of you. m'kay? It's a poll: would you prefer to worry about filtering out the junk mail yourself, or let someone else do it for you and possibly miss "good" messages. Is it worth missing valid email?