mail records

[woger]

Hi there,

I have a question about the mail records.

I am a small ISP and got a complain from someone that one off my customers is spamming.

The problem is that he is using an external system to send the bulk mail and the mx records are pointing to their own server. So, to be short, I have nothing to do with their mail, besides the DNS / mx records.

Is there a possibility that my server(s) are blacklisted, because I am running their website and DNS?

Greetings,

Roger

[agsteele]

The problem is that he is using an external system to send the bulk mail and the mx records are pointing to their own server. So, to be short, I have nothing to do with their mail, besides the DNS / mx records.

Is there a possibility that my server(s) are blacklisted, because I am running their website and DNS?

39947[/snapback]

Hi Roger,

Can you provide the IP address of the mail server concerned? That will allow more informed advice.

Andrew

[Telarin]

In general, if the mail is originating from their own server on their own IP address, then spamcop will list only that particular IP address that is sending spam.

However, the trick is if your network gets a "spammy" reputation, lists like spamhaus, which may be even more widely used than spamcop have a tendancy to list the entire network block.

If you have a customer sending spam using your network, then it needs to be taken care of. You should contact your customer and give them a warning, and if they don't stop, then you need to terminate their account and let them find somewhere else to spam from.

You could also block port 25 outright, though this is not the best solution as you may have customers that run legitimate mail servers, and that would cause them problems as well.

You should also make sure that your TOS spell out exactly what is and isn't acceptable so you have something specific to point to for the problem customer. It may be that the individual who filed the complaint actually subscribed to their list and simply forgot or didn't realize it at the time, so you should give your customer an opportunity to explain how they obtain their email addresses for their list, and how the verify that the owner of that address is the one who gave it to them.

[woger]

Agsteele,

The IP is 195.86.39.37

Telarin,

I do not offer SMTP services. Only from localhost.

So if Spamhaus is going to block their SMTP server IP range it won't effect me.

The problem over here (Netherlands) is that sending spam is illegal unless you send it to other companies. That's is what he is doing, so it isn't even illegal.

I am not sure if he is sending clientbased bulkmail or spambased bulkemail. To be honest I don't care. If I got a complaint fromone of my customers I'll block him.

Thanks,

Roger

[Telarin]

The problem over here (Netherlands) is that sending spam is illegal unless you send it to other companies. That's is what he is doing, so it isn't even illegal.

Spamcop is not interested in the legal definition of spam for a particular region. Spamcop IS interested in whether someone is sending mail to an email address without that address owners consent, end of story.

I do not offer SMTP services. Only from localhost.

If you are providing him with an IP address, bandwidth, or connectivity, then you should be concerned with how he uses those. The sending of spam is usually in violation of the Terms of Service of most responsible ISPs which provide these services.

If you are providing him with hosting space for a website, and he is advertising his website using spam sent from somewhere else, you should be concerned with that as well. Most spam advertised websites are scams or illegal in one way or another. Again, advertising a website via spam is against the Terms of Service of most responsible web host providers.

I am a small ISP and got a complain from someone that one off my customers is spamming.

ISP is a pretty generic term and doesn't tell us a whole lot. What service do you actually provide? Are you the provider of the customers connectivity itself, or are you simply a web hosting provider? If you provide the customers connectivity, then you are ultimately responsible for what comes from your IP space, regardless of who you are allowing to use it. If you are simply hosting web sites, then as you said, you can't control what they send from IP space that you have no control over, however, you can and should disallow the advertisement of websites hosted on your servers using spam.

[woger]

I am indeed a webhostingprovider. So I do not provide his smtp mailserver. And I refuse to handle the mail for his domain, but as I said, they handle it themselves.

I don't know how or with whom he sends his bulkmail, but if it is really spam, he would be on a blacklist and then he would be blocked even by mine and probably his own mailserver.

Well, I'll see what is happening, if it is really spam, I'll throw him off.

Thanks,

Roger

[agsteele]

The IP is 195.86.39.37

39950[/snapback]

Hi Roger,

I checked and there are no recent reports of any spam passing from this IP address. The IP is not currently listed in the SCBL.

Looks like you're OK.

Andrew

[Telarin]

I would say if it is just one complaint, take a quick look into it, remind the customer that they can't "spamvertize" their website, and not worry too much about it. In my opinion, one spam report can easily be written off to the "user didn't realize it was from the list they subscribed to" or "user forgot they subscribed to a list" category. I would however refer him to here for more information on running a responsible list.

On the other hand, if spam complaints become a regular occurence, then I would take more drastic action against the user, especially if you have already warned them.

[Jeff G.]

Is there a possibility that my server(s) are blacklisted, because I am running their website and DNS?

39947[/snapback]

Yes, there is that possibility because those are spam Support Services you are providing. You should have a TOS/AUP that prohibits use of any of your services for spamming or spam support, plus a morals clause that prohibits, among other things, spamming through any other provider.