[GRLUG] new Comcast mail blocking?

[Don Wood]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: grlug-bounces at grlug.org [mailto:grlug-bounces at grlug.org] On
> Behalf Of Greg Folkert
> Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 12:56 PM
> To: grlug at grlug.org
> Subject: Re: [GRLUG] new Comcast mail blocking?
> 
> On Fri, 2008-12-12 at 12:45 -0500, John-Thomas Richards wrote:
> > On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 12:29:33PM -0500, Collin Kidder wrote:
> > > John-Thomas Richards wrote:
> > > > Am I correct in assuming that Comcast is blocking me from
> > > > connecting to a specific port elsewhere?
> > > >
> > >
> > > Yes, why wouldn't that be the way they'd block things? Their whole
> > > point is to prevent botnets from being able to send spam. You send
> > > from a
> >
> > I wasn't thinking about the spam angle; I was thinking only of
> Comcast
> > preventing me from running a server at home.  Good point.
> >
> > > random port but you need to connect to port 25 to send mail to an
> > > external network. And so they block you from sending to port 25 so
> > > that nobody can easily spam from your IP or any other IP on their
> > > network. If you control both ends of the link then you can feel
> free
> > > to change the port # to something (like you did to send the above
> > > message.)
> > >
> > > Personally, I still don't agree with wholesale port blocking for
> > > everybody but I'm not an administrator at Comcast so I get no say
> at all.
> >
> > I don't have control at the Dreamhost end; they have port 587
> > available for this very reason.  Interestingly, RFC2476 seems to
> > indicate that port 25 should be used only when port 587 is "not
> > possible or convenient" yet Comcast is not blocking it.
> >
> > If Comcast simply wants to block botnets, why was this port blocked
> > *last week*?  Botnets aren't new…
> 
> Edict from up top with advice from a rather zealous yes man. It where
> *ALL* this crap Comcast is doing with internet/Voice/etc... stuff is
> coming from.
> 
> Soon, you see them blocking SIP service to anything other than their
> OWN services. That will hit my three times, I have a SIP Vonage phone,
> a corporate SIP hardware phones and a softphone for my laptop through
> another service.
> --

Packet arrives at Comcast gateway.

Comcast: Welcome to Comcast! Are your papers in order?
Comcast: Are you here on business? Or for pleasure?

Packet: I'm not sure sir. I was only told where to go.

Comcast: Halt! (Comcast pulls out pistol wildly!)
Comcast: Up against the wall for inspection!

(Comcast looks packet over very closely and though no contraband is found, packet is found to be suspicious and herded onto a cattle car headed for dreaded camp /dev/null