Webone blocking port 25??

[Damien Elmes]

Alex Satrapa <grail at goldweb.com.au> writes:

> On Thursday, July 25, 2002, at 11:50 , Damien Elmes wrote:
>
>> ... I don't think it's the ISP's responsibility to curb viruses, other
>> than to provide free firewall / virus software to download.
>
> "For their next act, they'll no doubt be buying a firewall running under NT,
> which makes about as much sense as building a prison out of meringue."
> -:Tanuki:, a.s.r
>
> If you run an ISP, and allow people with Windows to connect to your ISP, the
> very least you can do as a public service, is block port 25 outgoing. This
> protects you (the ISP) from being blacklisted, since your clients can no
> longer send spam without going through your mail relay. Ideally, you'd also
> have spam filters on your mail relay (inbound and outbound). As a side-effect,
> blocking port 25 outgoing also protects your clients from exposing important
> documents thanks to virii like SirCam.
>
> Virus checking software only knows how to catch virii that have already been
> caught.
>
> Windows is not a secure platform, and anybody responsible for connecting
> Windows boxes to the Internet is also responsible for protecting the Internet
> from them.
>
> Reasons I'd support "consumer grade" ISPs blocking port 25 outgoing and
> requiring their customers use the mail relay would be that most consumers use
> Windows, and as such need someone else to take care of them.
>
> It's probably a stupid analogy but here goes: In "real life", there are health
> regulations that mandate the use of gloves and tongs when handling food.
>
> The reason restaurants are forced to behave this way is to protect the large
> number of people who could be hurt by them.
>
> Why shouldn't there be similar restrictions on people who connect poorly
> administered machines to the Internet?

That's all very well to be standing on your high horse, but when you're locked
into a plan with a dodgy ISP for a number of months, and their SMTP servers
are dodgy, I think you might feel differently.

Non mainstream folks should not have to pay for business plans to get the
functionality of the internet that has been available all along. It is of
course within the rights of an ISP to block particular ports, but that does
not make it right. 12 month contracts and monopolies in particular sectors make
this issue particularly pertinent.

Regards,

-- 
Damien Elmes