[Mailman-Users] Recent AOL thread

[Mark Sapiro]

John Fleming wrote:

>> > I don't think so, Mark.  This is an "announce-only" list, and the sender
>is
>> > non-US, I think on a dialup.  Let's say the sender's IP or ISP is on the
>> > blacklist.  Even though the list mail is finally coming from my server,
>> > couldn't the presence of his IP or ISP in the message headers be enough
>to
>> > trigger the blacklist?  - john
>>
>> No.  The message from AOL is that the IP address of the mail server
>> your list is being sent from is blacklisted, not the sender of the
>> message.  If you're on shared hosting, not a dedicated server, you
>> need to talk to your webhost and find out if they're on AOL's feedback
>> loop and if they're actively nuking spammers.
>
>That's not quite right, I don't think, because if the sender uses
>Squirrelmail on my server, his messages are accepted at places where they
>are otherwise blocked.  Mine is a personal sever.  I am a newbie, but I'm
>using Postfix/Debian and it is not an open relay.  I personally have not had
>any problems being blocked anywhere, I've used dnsbl lookups and been OK,
>and have used available open-relay tests and been OK.  We only have problems
>when my non-US friend sends mail to the list (or to certain domains that
>apparently have him or his ISP blocked).  This sender is a "good guy" - a
>missionary that is only sending mail to his supporters - nothing
>unsolicited.  His only problems are with AOL and one non-US domain.  Thanks
>any other comments.  - john

It seems clear that the issue is with your friend or his ISP. When he
posts to your list directly and the post is resent to the list
members, the envelope sender and the Sender: and Errors-To: headers
are all (re-)written to point to the list-bounces address. Thus only
the From: and some Received: and possibly X-*: headers remain to
identify the original source of the message. Clearly, AOL and the one
other domain is looking at something there and deciding to block the
message.

Have you looked up his IP and others if any in the chain from him to
you in the various dnsbl lists (openrbl.org does multiple list lookups
with one query)?

When he posts via your Squirrelmail, is the From: address the same as
when he posts directly? If so, this would rule that out as the trigger.

As this thread has shown, these are difficult issues to resolve, but
your friend can go to the links in FAQ 3.42 and possibly find more
info or some relief. In the meantime, he can apparently do what he
needs to do using your Squirrelmail or get an address at any of a
number of free e-mail services to post from.

--
Mark Sapiro <msapiro at value.net>       The highway is for gamblers,
San Francisco Bay Area, California    better use your sense - B. Dylan