[ On Monday, April 19, 1999 at 00:20:03 (-0700), Steve Lamb wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: [EXIM] (un)blocking dynamic IP addresses [Was: A way to do this?]
>
> I even forgot the reason that started all of this in the first place.
> The user wants to connect to their own mail server out on the net. If an ISP
> redirects it to their own, that, IMHO, is a violation of epic perportions. I
> am vehemently opposed to any and all involuntary redirection on the part of
> the ISP. A layer 4 switch forcing everyone into a proxy, for example, is
> inexcusable. The same forcing all outbound 25's to their mail server,
> unacceptable. Security and privacy alone are the reasons those should not be
> done, not to mention the simple fact that it plays hell with diagnostics.
I think you're way out of line there. Security and privacy alone *are*
the reasons such redirects should be done where possible. Not only that
but these are policy decisions that end providers *must* be *free* to
make on their own.
End-user ISPs *must* start taking more responsibility for their users
(just as most corporations now do with their firewalls). Dial-up
providers are *not* at the same level in the service heirarchy as IP
transit providers are and any expectations to the contrary will only
lead to trouble. If you want direct and unfettered access to the net,
and you want your packets to flow freely then you must be willing to
"pay" for that privilege and get yourself something much closer to a
dedicated connection with all the attendant responsibilities that go
along with having direct access to the Internet. If you don't want
these responsibilities, or cannot afford the connection, etc., then
you've got to be willing to accept the limitations that ISPs are forced
to put on the general public.
Diagnostics are not something the general public should be fooling with,
or should have to worry about. Too many cooks spoil the soup.
> "I can ping it, I can traceroute it, I can MTR it, I can telnet into the
> machine, why does my mail/web not get there?"
Sometimes having only a little bit of information, or only a limited
skill-set, etc., is very misleading. If an end user can't figure out
that they've been re-directed to their ISP's own SMTP server (or just
blocked) then they are not smart enough to be doing any such diagnostics
and should defer to their service provider (not to their friends and
strangers on mailing lists!). The Internet is a far more complex beast
than it was before the masses took it over.
--
Greg A. Woods
+1 416 218-0098 VE3TCP <gwoods@???> <robohack!woods>
Planix, Inc. <woods@???>; Secrets of the Weird <woods@???>
--
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