Tired of Being Screwed By Cox (no pun intended)

[Thomas Cameron]

Let me start by making clear - I *HATE* the fact that innocent users like
the list members get punished for the acts of spammers.  I really, really
wish that it were not so.

Let me continue by saying "Bravo!" to Cox.  If SBC and RoadRunner (the two
big players here in Austin for broadband) would do the same thing, it would
make life much, much better.

The reasons Cox gives are true - it is cheap and easy to get a broadband
connection and send millions and millions of spams through some numb-nut's
open relay before any abuse team gets wind of it and shuts you down.  I
think it's peachy that Cox is trying to put the kibosh on spammers.

I do hate that we have to pay, though.  The up side is that it is trivially
easy to set your mail server to send through theirs.
--
Thomas Cameron, RHCE, CNE, MCSE, MCT
Cameron Technical Services, Inc.
http://www.camerontech.com/
(512) 454-3200
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chad and Shaun Horton" <cshorton1@cox.net>
To: <plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us>
Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2003 4:55 PM
Subject: Tired of Being Screwed By Cox (no pun intended)


> 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
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change  you mail settings:
> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>