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kpatz
MY HEAD A SPLODE
Premium
join:2003-06-13
Manchester, NH
| Re: Boo Once again, legitimate users are penalized for the actions of a few bad apples.
That said, I'm ok with port 25 blocking, only if:
1) the block is outbound only, not inbound, and
2) users have an option of having the block removed upon request.
While the majority of "average" users don't need port 25 (provided the ISP's mail servers accept mail on an alternate port such as 587, and they educate the users on how to configure their email clients to use said port), there are legitimate uses for outbound port 25 for power users:
1. One may maintain an offsite mail server and need to test connectivity to said server on port 25.
2. One may be using a non-ISP email service that doesn't accept connections on ports other than 25.
2. One may use nmap or other port scanning tools, and such tools won't report blocked ports.
Also, blocking port 25 is merely a band-aid. Spammers will find other ways to spew their crap (such as posted elsewhere where some spammers were trying to social engineer authentication info from users). For every ISP that blocks 25, there are 10 more that don't have it blocked and the spammers will just go there. Plus, what's to stop spammers from using the bots they already have to issue a DDOS attack, which can be done, port 25 blocked or not.
It's better to boot infected users and get them to clean up their act, than it is to "band-aid" their hemorrhaging.
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To ISPs: Leave our ports alone! If I want ports blocked, I'll do it myself, thank you. | |
|  NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
 ·Pacific Bell - SBC
| Re: Boo said by kpatz  :It's better to boot infected users and get them to clean up their act, than it is to "band-aid" their hemorrhaging. Might as well boot customers who lose their accounts to social engineering while you are at it.
Actually, this could be good for bandwidth hogs, as well. We'd probably be booting a significant (greater than 5%) percentage of the Internet users in the U.S. if we did this. Thus, fewer users chasing bandwidth. Those using their Internet connections heavily would have fewer competitors for bandwidth; a good thing in their eyes, I am sure. 
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Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum | |
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