On Tue, 2003-06-17 at 14:52, Chad Horton wrote:
> The bright folks at Cox have struck us with another one of their
> brilliant ideas again. Apparently the Cox put a jimmy hat on port 25. 
> Do you have an smtp server and also subscribe to Cox (http://www.cox.com
> and http://www.cox.net)? Well, you poor sap. You are no longer allowed
> to send email through your smtp server because Cox, in their infinite
> wisdom, has now blocked port 25. This includes both servers within your
> local network AND hosted by an external provider.
> 
> There has yet to be a supporting argument providing a realistic reason
> why they started blocking port 25. (below is a poor explanation from
> cox, which you can also read at
> http://support.cox.net/custsup/email/email_info.shtml) 
> 
> Now, this may not be that big of a deal for some, since you can still
> route all of your email through Cox's smtp server, but just the mere
> fact that they would do something so ludicrous should tick everyone off.
> 
> So what can be done about this? According to Cox, "nothing." And be
> prepared to get hung up on when you express your frustration over this
> matter and to get the rhetorical statement, "We appologize for the
> inconvenience, sir. Is there anything else we can help you with?" 
> 
> Now if you are desparate enough, Cox has been nice enough to offer a new
> tiered service, to be announced soon. It is not certain yet as to what
> these tiers mean for us, but be willing to bet that there will be
> provisions allowing port 25 to be opened for a hefty fee.
> 
> So, if you are as displeased as I am, please express your disdain over
> this new policy with Cox directly. You can contact your local Cox
> division, or you can chat with a customer service agent at Cox Chat With
> Us Live support section. 
> 
> An explanation from Cox about blocking port 25: 
> 
> Q. Why do you require the use Cox outbound (SMTP) email servers? 
> A. It reduces the number of SPAM and virus emails originating from our
> customers. Most Internet Service Providers have adopted this practice to
> reduce spam. We must take this action to ensure that a few bulk emailers
> do not get the entire Cox.net domain blacklisted from sending mail to
> other Internet Service Providers. 
> 
> Q. Will this hinder my ability to send email? 
> A. This will not impact the vast majority of customers, but there are
> bound to be some people using third party mail servers. Any software
> configured to use an SMTP server other than smtp.region.cox.net to
> deliver email directly to a recipient's server will no longer work. An
> indication of this problem may be a message similar to this in your mail
> client: 
> A time-out occurred while communicating with the server. Account:
> 'otheraccount.otherisp.com', Server: 'othersmtp.otherisp.com', Protocol:
> SMTP, Port 25, Secure(SSL): No, Error Number: 0x800CCC19 Customers using
> third party email services must configure their email clients to use
> smtp.region.cox.net to send outbound email. Please remember that
> operating an email or other server on a residential Cox High Speed
> Internet connection is a violation of our Acceptable Use Policy. Email
> Software Settings 
> 
-----
Actually a lot of service providers are doing this and in fact,
Earthlink has been doing this for quite some time now.

If it reduces spam, it's a good thing.

If you get a business account, you can run your own smtp server but not
on the residential service.

You can always vote with your wallet.

I thought that their explanation was more than adequate.

Craig