IP: Service providers restricting alternatives?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: Mary Shaw <mary.shaw () cs cmu edu>
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
>
> Dave,
>
> I rent a piece of the shaw.org domain, namely mary.shaw.org, from
> NetIdentity.  This provides me with some web space and a personal email
> account.  NetIdentity just sent a notice including the following:
>
> ================
> MSN Sending Block
> We have been notified that throughout the month of July MSN will begin to
> block SMTP or outgoing mail from non-MSN email addresses on their servers.
> This means that if MSN is your ISP, you may experience problems sending mail
> from your NetIdentity account. If you begin to experience this problem, you
> can change your outgoing/SMTP setting so that it will not be blocked. For
> instructions, please go to
> https://www.netidentity.com/support/techsupport/sendingproblems.asp.
> ================
>
> This is the second time recently I've heard of such restrictions.  About a
> week ago a friend in Greensburg said that his ISP (I forget which one, but
> not MSN) was imposing a similar restriction, which was going to mess up his
> ability to manage several mail accounts such as his Yahoo account.
>
> These blockages are presented as anti-spam measures.  NetIdentity suggests
> switching outbound mail to port 80.
>
> Do you know what's going on here?  Is this actually a spam deterrent, or is
> it an anticompetitive play?  Will the port 80 workaround last, or will they
> block that as well?
>
> Mary



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