Earlier
this month, in an effort to improve the quality of service that we
provide, Bigfoot added another layer of Spam protection to the Bigfoot
for Life service. We are now blocking even more Spam than ever! Some of
you may have noticed that some mail is not reaching you. The following
letter explains the new service and how it works.
This email answers the following questions:
- Some mail is not getting through to me, why?
- Why is Bigfoot blocking this mail?
- What is ORBS?
- How can I get mail from someone who is being blocked by ORBS?
- What if I'm not getting a bounce that references ORBS?
* Some mail is not getting through to me, why?
Beginning 12/13/2000, Bigfoot started blocking incoming email sent via
mail servers listed on the Open Relay Behavior-modification System
(ORBS) list. ORBS is a list of mail servers that either intentionally or
unintentionally have an open relay which allows Spammers to send
unsolicited commercial email (commonly known as Spam) through their
system. Most Spam is sent via open relays, so when Spammers are aware
that one exists, they will readily abuse it to send their junk mail far
and wide. It is likely that the email that is not reaching your Bigfoot
account is being sent from servers that are on the ORBS list. Even large
ISP's can find themselves on ORBS if they are not compliant.
* Why is Bigfoot blocking this mail?
Spam is the number one complaint of our users and we have been fighting
to keep it from your inbox for the past five years. The Spam problem
costs Bigfoot, as well as many other email providers, money and
resources on a daily basis. Bigfoot blocked over 1 Billion pieces of
Spam last year, but millions more still got through. Bigfoot has long
been known for its strong stand against Spam, so we have implemented
ORBS filtering in order to be able to continue providing the best
service that we can to our users.
* What is ORBS?
ORBS keeps a list of all of the mail servers that are not secure against
Spammers, otherwise known as "Open Relays." These servers
allow Spammers to send mail and limit the ability of other systems to
block it. The Spam generated from these servers not only annoys the
recipients, but clogs networks and adds greatly to bandwidth costs. For
more information, please visit www.orbs.org.
"ORBS, or the Open Relay Behavior-modification System, is a
database for tracking SMTP servers that have been confirmed to permit
third-party relay. These servers permit Spammers to connect to them from
anywhere in the world, usually from a modem connection, and then forward
the Spam to its intended victims. It also tracks networks that prevent
ORBS from verifying whether or not their SMTP servers continue to permit
third-party relay."
- From the ORBS website.
* How can I get mail from someone who is being blocked by ORBS?
If a mail server is on the ORBS list, the only way it can be removed is
when changes are made by that server's administrators to comply with the
ORBS guidelines. The administrator of that server must prove that they
have fixed the relaying problem and that they comply to ORBS standards.
Bigfoot cannot remove a mail server from the ORBS listing, nor can we
intercede on behalf of the mail server's administrator to have offending
servers removed from ORBS. If email sent to you bounced back to the
sender with the message "554 Access Denied from IP. See www.orbs.org
for more information," this means that you are not receiving mail
from certain domains through your Bigfoot address because these domains
are listed with ORBS, THEY have to comply with ORBS regulations if they
wish to be removed from their list.
In the meantime, we suggest having the people who email you use one of
the many Web-based email providers available on the Net to send email to
you.
If you are a sender to a Bigfoot address who received this message,
please contact the administrators of the sending mail server and urge
them to fix the problem. In other words, if you are emailing a Bigfoot
user and you get a bounce-back stating "554 Access Denied from IP.
See www.orbs.org
for more information," then you should contact your ISP and THEY
must contact ORBS about how to get themselves removed from the ORBS
list.
Specific information is available: www.orbs.org
* What if I'm not getting a bounce that references ORBS?
Email bounces for many other reasons, too. The forwarding or
distribution account that Bigfoot is sending mail to may have a capacity
limit, in which case the receiving mail server refuses any more email
(free email accounts are especially prone to this since these accounts
do not allow their users very much space on which to store mail).
We hope that this letter has answered your questions. Spam has its costs
and Bigfoot has been doing all it can to reduce those costs for you, our
customer, and for ourselves. We are sorry if there has been legitimate
mail blocked from reaching your account and hopefully the server that is
being blocked will be made secure and taken off the ORBS list.
Thank you,
Your Friends at Bigfoot
|
My usual
email address is jct@bigfoot.com ...
However some emails recently haven't got through for the reasons given below
.... so you could try the following alternate email addresses: