[clug] [AUSCERT ALERT - Email worm W32.Beagle.A/Win32.Bagle.A]

[Damien Elmes]

Michael Still <mikal at stillhq.com> writes:

>> And instead annoy random people on the internet! I can appreciate the
>> desire to please the customers over strangers, but this has to be
>> balanced against the impact on the global community.
>
> No. I disagree. My email is for me. I you send me an .exe, then I'll 
> block it... It's just like my overly full inbox or spam filtering 
> policies -- email is for _my_ convenience (I'm the one paying for
> it).

Sure - I'm all for blocking executable files outright if you want.
It's not like many of us here have a need to send or receive
executable files. However, I've delt with clients who have such a
need. Granted these cases are rare.

> I don't want mail from stupid people though. Also, Nemo forgot to mention 
> that the blocking is in the form of a 5xx error message (if I recall 
> correctly). The sender does't get an email at all.

Well, that's a different story. I (incorrectly) assumed that Nemo was
advocating a solution which generated a new mail back to the sender -
this is what I find really annoying. Returning an error code during
the SMTP transaction seems reasonable.

Regards,
-- 
Damien Elmes