** IMPORTANT ** BellSouth Is Scanning & Filtering Your Outbound E-Mails

[KRL]

I just discovered BellSouth is now blocking any e-mail you send out over their network, even from your home account, that has a hypertexted link URL in it.

I've been wondering why some people I do biz with haven't been receiving e-mail where you mention a site in it. So we did comprehensive tests this morning sending out all sorts of variations.

Anything with a url link was read, filtered and blocked.

So if you are wondering why people aren't getting your e-mails this could be the reason.

I'm sure if one Bell is doing it they all are.

So they are reading everything being sent.

Nice.

[Dawgy]

how the fuck is that legal

[Fletch XXX]

Anyone aware of Adelphia pulling this shit?

[Manowar]

Blueyonder in the UK are also filtering them pretty bad

[KRL]

Originally posted by Dawgy
how the fuck is that legal

I was never notified of this and it pisses me the hell off to think first of all they are reading all my outbound e-mails, and second of all I send a lot of e-mails referencing hyperlinked URL's which are not going through and I am not being told why.

[crockett]

isn't that illegal?

[polish_aristocrat]

Why?
Fighting spam cannot justify doing that

[PrivateEye]

I have been bitching for weeks now about not getting my e-mails from centurytel. I knew somehthing was up and have written them already....to try and get to the bottom of it. This is way FUCKED up

90% of all e-mails i send or recieve have urls in them

[KRL]

Originally posted by Manowar
Blueyonder in the UK are also filtering them pretty bad

Yeh, the problem is this is single e-mail correspondence not mass e-mails in bulk where I just discovered this.

So they are going beyond spam and actually reading and scanning single e-mails now.

[bluedevil]

does the FBI do that anyway?

[KRL]

Originally posted by Deeprub
I have been bitching for weeks now about not getting my e-mails from centurytel. I knew somehthing was up and have written them already....to try and get to the bottom of it. This is way FUCKED up

90% of all e-mails i send or recieve have urls in them

Yeh, it must be some new filtering system being deployed. I just noticed too a lot of people saying "never got your e-mail."

Now I fucking know why.

This needs to go to the media.

[KRL]

Originally posted by bluedevil
does the FBI do that anyway?

Yes the NSA scans every e-mail on the Net also, but they don't filter.

[GotGauge]

Well they need to filter them for attachments and virus

[Jeff aka NIGHTfall]

Originally posted by Fletch XXX
Anyone aware of Adelphia pulling this shit?

[KRL]

Originally posted by GotGauge
Well they need to filter them for attachments and virus

Agreed, but they shouldn't be scanning and filtering the body text on individual e-mails.

[riosluts]

yeah that really isnt fair. Why cant they filter your incoming email instead and if it contains an URL Link label it as possible spam.

[Fletch XXX]

KRL i am going to blog with a link to this thread because I have had a few clients emailing me this week complaining about mail issues.

different than some, they were havign to email me from hotmail and yahoo etc.

I am wondering if this is the case.

thanks for the heads up.

[EZRhino]

Fucking sucks

[corvette]

Originally posted by Fletch XXX
Anyone aware of Adelphia pulling this shit?

you may be able to find out by sending an email to yourself

[Dawgy]

geez... i sense a lawsuit... a big one...

[KRL]

Originally posted by Fletch XXX
KRL i am going to blog with a link to this thread because I have had a few clients emailing me this week complaining about mail issues.

different than some, they were havign to email me from hotmail and yahoo etc.

I am wondering if this is the case.

thanks for the heads up.

We tested web based Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail. The test e-mail with the URL in it went through fine in all cases.

They are not doing this. It seems to be at the ISP level where its happening.

[GotGauge]

Originally posted by KRL
Agreed, but they shouldn't be scanning and filtering the body text on individual e-mails.

Have you tried URL's that are non adult?
Just for a test?
Yahoo.com

[KRL]

Originally posted by GotGauge
Have you tried URL's that are non adult?
Just for a test?
Yahoo.com

That's one of my points here. It wasn't an adult word in the url.

[Doctor Dre]

This deserve suing them for looses you could have made ... or something like that .

Seriously I hate major corporations that just make their own stupid rules without thinking further then their noses.

[sinkiss]

Originally posted by crockett
isn't that illegal?

seems like it would have to be. is it just emails with urls or ALL email?

[KRL]

Originally posted by sinkiss
seems like it would have to be. is it just emails with urls or ALL email?

When we took out the one text line that had the hyperlink in it the mail went through fine. When it was kept in the text body, the system did not deliver the e-mail.

[Fletch XXX]

well yahoo, msn, hotmail all those will never do this hahaha every email you send out has a damn url for "Do you Yahoo?"

hahaha

[Lane]

Email is dying. This is bad

[FlyingIguana]

Originally posted by Dawgy
how the fuck is that legal

its filtering. they set up a rule that if the message contains a link, scrap the email.

stupid move tho because they'll filter legit emails which will just piss off paying customers.

[KRL]

OK just got in more test results.

It seems to be filtering certain URL's and not others. Ones that are blocked you can send if you do not have it hyperlinked or with the www. in front of it. A blocked domain can be sent and will go through if its just xyz.com.

So if you leave off the www and don't make it hyperlinked the system is not blocking it. They also seem to be referencing a database as some adult keywords went through but others less extreme did not.

[smokingdawn]

Big brother at work

[baddog]

Originally posted by KRL
Yeh, the problem is this is single e-mail correspondence not mass e-mails in bulk where I just discovered this.

So they are going beyond spam and actually reading and scanning single e-mails now.

ummm, you honestly think they have time to read every individual email that goes out? There would be such a back log that the Pony Express would be quicker

[ytcracker]

Originally posted by baddog
ummm, you honestly think they have time to read every individual email that goes out? There would be such a back log that the Pony Express would be quicker

its technically the same principle as the gmail thing

its not so much they are actually reading it
however if your account is getting flagged as a "problem account" so to speak they may scrutinize you closer

edit: meaning if KRL is getting flagged like this guy sends x urls they may start monitoring him to see if hes spamming unjustly

[KRL]

Originally posted by baddog
ummm, you honestly think they have time to read every individual email that goes out? There would be such a back log that the Pony Express would be quicker

Not people reading, servers reading it. LOL

[Elli]

This is definitely going in my Livejournal. Any link to more official info on this?

[Elli]

This is what I found:

"Netopia's Hot Spot solution also features "family-friendly" content filtering that runs on Netopia's back-end servers. The content controls filter "millions" of URLs that are updated on a daily basis and are enforced by Netopia's Wi-Fi gateways."
from http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/News_story_more_607.php

"Port 25: How Port 25 Management works to block SPAM

Port 25 Management

BellSouth is committed to providing our Internet Service customers with a safe and secure online experience. We are continuously monitoring and improving our built-in MailGuard Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus e-mail service to help shield you from many of the hazards of being online.

BellSouth is now implementing a new Spam reducing service called Port 25 Management. It is automatically applied to all new BellSouth Dial and FastAccess DSL Consumer accounts.

All new BellSouth Dial and FastAccess DSL Consumer customers will now be required to use the BellSouth e-mail servers for processing outgoing SMTP e-mails. This will allow us to provide you with greater security protection AND decrease the amount of Spam e-mails.

Benefits of Port 25 Management:

* Reduce SPAM E-mail: Reduces the amount of Spam you receive while also improving the overall performance of the BellSouth e-mail system. Filters will be applied to outgoing e-mails to help ensure the BellSouth e-mail system stays free of Spam. Filtered Spam e-mails will be automatically deleted from the BellSouth e-mail system.

* Increase Security: Blocks hackers from stealing your e-mail address and using it to send Spam. Also reduces your vulnerability to Denial of Service attacks, whereby, attackers prevent legitimate users of a service from using that service.

If your ?Send? mail is not configured to go through the BellSouth mail servers (mail.bellsouth.net), you will need to reconfigure your e-mail service to do so. For steps on how to reconfigure your e-mail client, click here."

from http://help.bellsouth.net/sdcuser/asp/dsl/default.asp

[KRL]

Originally posted by Elli
This is what I found:

"Netopia's Hot Spot solution also features "family-friendly" content filtering that runs on Netopia's back-end servers. The content controls filter "millions" of URLs that are updated on a daily basis and are enforced by Netopia's Wi-Fi gateways."
from http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/News_story_more_607.php

"Port 25: How Port 25 Management works to block SPAM

Port 25 Management

BellSouth is committed to providing our Internet Service customers with a safe and secure online experience. We are continuously monitoring and improving our built-in MailGuard Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus e-mail service to help shield you from many of the hazards of being online.

BellSouth is now implementing a new Spam reducing service called Port 25 Management. It is automatically applied to all new BellSouth Dial and FastAccess DSL Consumer accounts.

All new BellSouth Dial and FastAccess DSL Consumer customers will now be required to use the BellSouth e-mail servers for processing outgoing SMTP e-mails. This will allow us to provide you with greater security protection AND decrease the amount of Spam e-mails.

Benefits of Port 25 Management:

* Reduce SPAM E-mail: Reduces the amount of Spam you receive while also improving the overall performance of the BellSouth e-mail system. Filters will be applied to outgoing e-mails to help ensure the BellSouth e-mail system stays free of Spam. Filtered Spam e-mails will be automatically deleted from the BellSouth e-mail system.

* Increase Security: Blocks hackers from stealing your e-mail address and using it to send Spam. Also reduces your vulnerability to Denial of Service attacks, whereby, attackers prevent legitimate users of a service from using that service.

If your ?Send? mail is not configured to go through the BellSouth mail servers (mail.bellsouth.net), you will need to reconfigure your e-mail service to do so. For steps on how to reconfigure your e-mail client, click here."

from http://help.bellsouth.net/sdcuser/asp/dsl/default.asp

Thanks Elli. Looks like you nailed it. So they are indeed fucking with the outbound mail now. Shit. That's screball for us that send a lot of e-mails with adult words in them.

[Jim_Gunn]

I use Bellsouth ADSL and I just sent myself some test e-mails with hyperlinks such as yahoo.com, brazilxxx.com. sex.com and some others in the bodies (including the http://) to test this myself and I was able to get all of the e-mails. I hope this isn't really true because I send and receivea LOT of e-mails with hyperlinks!

[KRL]

Originally posted by Jim_Gunn
I use Bellsouth ADSL and I just sent myself some test e-mails with hyperlinks such as yahoo.com, brazilxxx.com. sex.com and some others in the bodies (including the http://) to test this myself and I was able to get all of the e-mails. I hope this isn't really true because I send and receivea LOT of e-mails with hyperlinks!

its true

[kmanrox]

i agree it sucks... but its not like theres people sitting there reading even 5% of the trillion outgoing emails sent per day with links in them..

[baddog]

Originally posted by KRL
Thanks Elli. Looks like you nailed it. So they are indeed fucking with the outbound mail now. Shit. That's screball for us that send a lot of e-mails with adult words in them.

I wonder if they are blocking keywords or html

[KRL]

Originally posted by kmanrox
i agree it sucks... but its not like theres people sitting there reading even 5% of the trillion outgoing emails sent per day with links in them..

The NSA's super computers are reading and scanning all TCP/IP, satellite, fax, radio, and other forms of communication and data traffic worldwide now. Keyword hits are filtered out for human eyes.

http://www.fas.org/irp/program/process/echelon.htm

[KRL]

Originally posted by baddog
I wonder if they are blocking keywords or html

I got the problem url through only when I wrote it as .com. With the http:// or the www. without the http:// it still got deleted.

[herbal logic]

on the topic of bellsouth, a few months ago I needed to obtain a password for a domain account that had a person who didnt really own the domains' bellsouth email address listed as the primary.

I called bellsouth and pretended like I was him and they just gave me his password.

[Paul Waters]

In Canada, Bell Sympatico blocks port 25 on the residential service.

This sucks, because I want to mail from my website's domain.

And when I am away from home, I have to change the smtp server setting. This is a real pain.

Can someone tell me:

if I establish a local smtp server on my home network, will that get around this problem? Or does the smtp server use port 25 to connect to the receiver's pop server?

Thanks

[woj]

Doh. Email is becoming, more and more useless each day... :-/

[goBigtime]

God they need to hire new admins quick.

That is such a shitty solution to controlling outbound spam/viri that it almost makes me think that isn't the problem they are trying to address.

They need to be sued pronto.


Next thing you know they'll be filtering websites that have differing viewpoints to their own political agenda.


KRL, you should email the ACLU or something.

[KRL]

Originally posted by Paul Waters
In Canada, Bell Sympatico blocks port 25 on the residential service.

This sucks, because I want to mail from my website's domain.

And when I am away from home, I have to change the smtp server setting. This is a real pain.

Can someone tell me:

if I establish a local smtp server on my home network, will that get around this problem? Or does the smtp server use port 25 to connect to the receiver's pop server?

Thanks

Same problem here. Can't mail via domains on bellsouth unless you use a web based mail interface to buypass their block.

[KRL]

Originally posted by goBigtime
God they need to hire new admins quick.

That is such a shitty solution to controlling outbound spam/viri that it almost makes me think that isn't the problem they are trying to address.

They need to be sued pronto.


Next thing you know they'll be filtering sites that have differing viewpoints to their own political agenda.


KRL, you should email the ACLU or something.

Its a really serious problem. I do e-mail correspondence with advertisers for example. If that advertiser's URL is in the bellsouth database, I can no longer reference linking codes for banners via e-mail for example.

[goBigtime]

Man... could you imagine the day that they start filtering the websites that you visit?

They would probably initially disguise such a form of censorship as some sort of solution to protect you from sites operated by evil-doers that contain viruses and dialers.

... and then of course broaden that to include anyone that isn't nodding their heads in agreement to whatever comes through the TV.