Yahoo Developing Open Source Server Software For Spam-Resista nt E-Mail

[Furnish, Trever G]

> > > At 17:45 12/12/2003, you wrote:
> > > >Furnish, Trever G wrote:
> > > >>I for one would be quite willing to consider the ability to
> > > send email as
> > > >>domains you aren't authoritative for as a casualty of war.
> > >
> > > Julian wrote:
> > > I think all of the (possibly millions) of people around the
> > > world who own a
> > > domain while not owning an outgoing mail server would disagree.
> >
> >I am operating under the assumption that if you own a domain,
> >then you will have the authority and capability to control
> >which servers are designated as mail senders within your domain,
> >even if your domain is hosted by an ISP.  You seem to be making
> >the exact opposite assumption (and you may be right, given that
> >I've seen no technical details on this implementation).
>
> Your assumption is fine for little ISPs. But what about the
> Yahoos and AOLs
> of this world? They would have to manage thousands and
> thousands of domains
> for their customers. They are also using dynamic IP
> allocation, so they
> would have to allow all their IP addresses to send mail as
> coming from any
> customer-owned domain name.

I respect your opinion, Julian, but I'm either not understanding
you or we just don't agree on this point. :-)  In any event,
thanks for continuing the discussion.

I take it you feel that if you obtain smtp relaying service
through, e.g. AOL's SMTP servers by virtue of subscribing to
their service, then that service should include the ability
to send email as any address.

I understand that the loss of that ability would be a pain for
those users who are accustomed to it, but I don't think it's
an unreasonable problem to cause.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I would expect the number
of people legitimately relaying mail "from" a domain without
using that domain's smtp servers to be small relative to the
total number of people sending email.

If you're an AOL subscriber, chances are you're connected through
AOL's network and using the AOL mail relays.  No problem.

If you're an AOL subscriber sending email from someone else's
computer, use their web form if they have one - otherwise, wait
till you get back to their network.

If you're the owner of smalldomain.com and you don't run your own
smtp relay, relay your outbound mail through the servers provided
by your registrar or work out an arrangement with your ISP for an
additional fee.

If you're sending email directly to destination SMTP servers from
a dynamic ip address assigned by an ISP, well, chances are I'm
already going to reject email from you based on a DUL zone - use
your ISP's mail relays and designate them as valid for your
domain after getting permission from your ISP.

Did those cases cover the particular problem case you think is
unmanageable?  If not, what situation am I missing?

Maybe we should just postpone the rest of this discussion till
there's an actual implementation available to dig into. :-)

--
Trever