Return-Path: Received: from atl4mhob13.myregisteredsite.com ([209.17.115.51] verified) by media-motion.tv (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 4.2.10) with ESMTP id 5466150 for AE-List@media-motion.tv; Thu, 08 May 2014 14:11:13 +0200 Received: from mailpod.hostingplatform.com ([10.30.71.211]) by atl4mhob13.myregisteredsite.com (8.14.4/8.14.4) with ESMTP id s48CBBOn031687 for ; Thu, 8 May 2014 08:11:11 -0400 Received: (qmail 16218 invoked by uid 0); 8 May 2014 12:11:11 -0000 X-TCPREMOTEIP: 60.225.102.245 X-Authenticated-UID: chris@chriszwar.com Received: from unknown (HELO ?192.168.0.4?) (chris@chriszwar.com@60.225.102.245) by 0 with ESMTPA; 8 May 2014 12:11:10 -0000 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 6.6 \(1510\)) Subject: AE list bounce WARNING messages - a quick explanation From: Chris Zwar In-Reply-To: Date: Thu, 8 May 2014 22:11:07 +1000 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-Id: <935B3BB5-E2E2-441E-9116-41061EAC1D89@chriszwar.com> References: To: "After Effects Mail List" X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1510) There have been many emails over the past few weeks about the warning = messages generated from bouncing list emails. I thought I'd share some = details I learned after having similar problems in the past. On 07/05/2014, at 10:04 PM, Paul Crisanti wrote: > Yeah wonder what triggered it? This is totally automated correct? No = breathers watching it? Unfortunately it's happened several times before, and if it's the same = cause this time around then it's all to do with ISPs and SPAM. It's not = something that happens on a personal level and unfortunately it's not = something that can be easily fixed by Rene. It is a symptom of a global = problem- the problem being SPAM. When emails are sent around the internet, all ISPs are monitoring where = they come from and how much SPAM comes from the same mail server. What = is not well known is that ISPs filter out most spam before emails get = passed onto the end user. For many years, SPAM has accounted for = approximately 70% of all email traffic, and the only reason you see so = little spam in your personal inbox is because most of it is filtered = first- even if you're not aware of it. When the percentage of SPAM from a particular mail server reaches a = critical threshold, usually around 80%, then it is common for ALL emails = from the same mail server to be blocked for 24 hours. This then causes = emails from that server to be bounced back - no matter if it's SPAM or a = legitimate email from the ISP's customer (ie. you and me). In other = words, if a mail server is sending 80% spam then it is blocked, and so = is the 20% of legitimate emails coming from the same place. This can sometimes be confusing for end users because big ISPs will have = many mail servers with different IP addresses, so one may be blocked = while others still work. So an end user might send an email only to = have it bounce back, but then if they try again it works the second time = - because the email was routed through a different mail server second = time round (or the 24hour period had passed). The problem is generally caused by ISPs that have what are called 'open = mail relays' - this means anyone on the internet can use them to send = email, even if they aren't customers of the ISP. Generally, anyone = means spammers, so an ISP that has an open email relay will become a = gateway for spammers to flood the world with SPAM. Several years ago my ISP was an Australian company called Optus, who had = open mail relays and didn't require any sort of email authentication. = This meant anyone, anywhere in the world could send emails through Optus = even if they weren't Optus customers. Which meant spammers. The end = result was that approximately 75% of all email going through the Optus = mail servers was SPAM, and a small spike in SPAM could take it over the = 80% threshold that would get ALL emails to and from Optus - including = legitimate customers like me - being bounced back. I'm sure you can = sympathise how infuriating it is to know that emails you are sending are = not going through, and emails that people are sending you are being = blocked because your ISP is a bit shit. I don't know why an ISP would = have open mail relays, and I don't know if Optus have changed their = policy since then, but I changed to a different ISP as soon as I could. So what is probably happening with the AE list is that somewhere, a mail = server is experiencing an unusually large amount of SPAM traffic, and so = it has been blocked by other ISPs at a very basic level. This is not = the same as being added to a SPAM blacklist, or having AE list emails = being confused as SPAM. That's not happening. It just means that some = services (such as Gmail) are refusing ALL emails that come from the same = mail server - whether it's a legitimate AE list email or one selling = discount meds and so on=85 Also, in this context it's useful to think of Gmail as a webpage and not = an ISP. The problem is with the companies that people use to connect to = the internet, and the IP addresses of their mail servers. There is = nothing about the AE list, and nothing about the people who subscribe to = it (i.e. you and me) that has caused the bounce messages. The problem = is more fundamental than that. The only solution is to hope that the ISPs that are causing the problems = (possibly including the one Rene uses) do something to lower the amount = of SPAM going through their system. They shouldn't have open mail = relays for a start, but it's not easy to get a big company to change = their policy and IT infrastructure overnight. Anyway I hope this explanation is useful and interesting to everyone = who's having bounce issues, and serves as some reassurance that it's = nothing personal! -Chris