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How to "pull" mail from AIM.com IMAP?


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Does anyone have any ideas how one can pull AIM.com Web mail into SpamCop?

First, AIM.com Web mail doesn't provide the means of forwarding mail to another address. (Gee, what a surprise...)

Second, AIM.com accounts evidently aren't "trickable" as described in this SpamCop help advisory:

http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/305.html

More specifically, attempts to use popgate.cesmail.net to pull AIM.com mail into SpamCopy results in an invalid password error. YES, I have carefully and repeatedly verified that I've put the correct password into "SpamCop Webmail | Options | SpamCop Tools | Configure external POP servers."

Just to see what happens, I've also tried type the IMAP server address used by AIM.com into "Configure external POP servers." Not surprisingly, this produced the expected result of an "error 5" insofar as one shouldn't expect to use POP to retrieve IMAP mail. (I didn't expect to, but thought I'd try before posting...)

I already know how to configure my Thunderbird email client to access AIM.com via IMAP. I'd much prefer, however, to figure out if I can "trick" AIM.com into giving up my messages to SpamCop.

Any ideas?

Cheers & thanks,

Riley

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Sorry, I don't know yet. I just tried signing up one of my AIM accounts for aim.com email, but I keep getting the following error message, with the last group of digits incrementing with time, and I don't have time right now to keep retrying.

Service Unavailable

The service you are trying to access is currently unavailable. Please try again in a few moments.

If you continue to see this message, please review the Help pages. To learn more about the Mail service, please visit our Home page.

Error Code: C0FE1801

Report ID: 1132-r01-20051019-191203

I suggest that you email JT via support[at]spamcop.net to ask about support for this new service of AOL Time Warner.
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Regarding the AIM.com Web mail error messages, it *may* be a consequence of a problem that reportedly slowed down multiple AOL systems.

I read about this problem in this morning's paper -- it may still be occuring...

Cheers & hope this helps,

R

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Have you tried using the exact same set up as used in Thunderbird, or only the trick work around you referenced for "Does SpamCop work with AOL/MSN/Hotmail?"

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Yes. Per my original post, I've also tried type the IMAP server address used by AIM.com into "Configure external POP servers." Not surprisingly, this produced the expected result of an "error 5"

The IMAP server address I applied to Configure external POP servers" is the one I'm using in T'bird.

As I see it, by providing neither mail forwarding capabililty nor a means of POP message retrieval, AIM.com Web mail attempts to sustain the AOL philosopy of "keep 'em on the reservation"...

Cheers & thanks,

Riley

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Thanks for the reply. I did get your statement about using IMAP. Where I was off base was I thought that you had been using POP from Thunderbird, but now I see that you were only using IMAP. Sorry about that.

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Looking at the "help" page for aim.com, I don't see anything other than IMAP access offered. As such, there is no direct way to "POP" e-mail from there. (Adding another question to the mix, are "new" HotMail users still getting their e-mail brought into the SpamCop web-mail app?) I don't know the details of the current access connection, just noting that both Yahoo (U.S) and HotMail had a POP connection (both taken basically to a paid status perk) .... point being that the "mechanism" was/is there ... I even have a 'tool' installed to manipulate the Yahoo connection to "appear" as a POP connection, but that's basically a "convertor / proxy" thing ... so in general, it would appear that the same type of tool would have to exist to somehow convert the aim.com IMAP connection to something that could be 'handled' and results 'passed' in something 'compatible' with a POP feed .... Does such a tool exist? Preferably, one that is written to run under *NIX .... Again, I don't know how or what tools are in place to handle these connections now ... Sent some IM to JT on this, but ....

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Getting the SpamCop Email System to fetch mail from the aim.com system (if that is even possible) will probably require additional programming on popgate (along the lines of what is currently done for the aol.com system). Getting such programming into production probably won't happen very soon. :(

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You can always use your IMAP Client to drag email from your aim.com folders to your SpamCop Email System mailboxes/Folders like Inbox and Held Mail.

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Oh man, that's almost like cheating! Great suggestion!

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You can always use your IMAP Client to drag email from your aim.com folders to your SpamCop Email System mailboxes/Folders like Inbox and Held Mail.

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My goal was to use SpamCop as a single focal point for all my incoming email messages. Insofar as AIM.com supports only IMAP, that's currently not possible and evidently not likely to happen soon, if ever.

So while I agree that one can indeed use one's email client to move AIM.com messages into SpamCop, it doesn't address the goal I had in mind when I created the post.

Cheers and thanks all,

Riley

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To be fair, AIM.com also supports HTTP, and their marketing people surely want you to visit their web pages using HTTP (rather than use IMAP or POP) so that they and their customers can advertise to you.

I am sorry that you were not able to accomplish what you wanted, and that we were not able to help you as quickly as you wanted. However, I hope that other SpamCop Email System Customers will see this as a cautionary tale, and make sure (instead of assuming) that any intended new MSP (Mail Service Provider) supports POP before starting to receive (or stating an intent to receive) wanted mail via that intended new MSP. That is the long form of caveat emptor and TANSTAAFL for MSPs' POP services.

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