dcortez

I just had a very troubling experience with trying to send email via AOL.

I tried to email a banner exchange program a list of URLs and AOL refused to send the message the first time claiming it was SPAM.

I put the list into a zip and tried sending it again.

AOL stripped the entire message clean.

This is the first time in two years I have ever had a problem with AOL seriously interfering with the normal legitimate day-to-day conduct of my adult enterprise.

Has anyone else had problems with AOL censoring their content?

This is not about spam - this is about sending email with adult content being blocked.

I was surprised when I first discovered that they automatically and transparently intercept your SMTP traffic and route it through their servers.

My email software was explicitly set to my web host's SMTP. I recall in prior years when I used Earthlink that they did not allow outside SMTP service, but you had to enter their SMTP details before your email client would work.

AOL is seizing SMTP traffic regardless of the software config.

I appreciate your feedback.

Thanks,
-Dino

pornstar2pac

aol is for surfers only

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nofx

get a real isp

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pornguy

AOL is not worth using. And if you run an adult business using them, then you are asking for more problems that it is worth.

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Rantan

yes aol sucks..but ill admit that's disturbing they're getting away with that..

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Mike Okitch

AOL is not the internet

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ytcracker

aol blocked our website it throws a 580

those guys are nazis

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Dynamix

AOL censoring the internet is hardly anything new. Their webservers and proxies have prevented sites they deem fit for years now, especially anti-AOL sites and "hacker tools" sites.

AOL uses proprietary e-mail server software. I would hardly use the phrase SMTP and AOL in the same sentence. All of their email is routed through their own servers before hitting their SMTP servers. That's why they don't provide you with the POP3 or SMTP servers that Outlook or similar programs require.

Your best bet for doing adult work and using AOL as your ISP is to register a GMAIL or similar account.

I wouldn't be surprised if you have already been missing incoming messages that their incoming routing servers have blocked.

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dcortez

Easier said than done.

I'm using DSL and the IP performance is great. I am based in a remote region where there are not many practical alternatives.

I've had multiple dedicated lines with professional ISPs costing $300+ per month.

AOL has, until now provided two years of excellent services at the best price - what problems (outside of this recent email issue) are you referring to?

Thanks,
-Dino

Furious_Female

Are you saying they blocked outgoing mail? If you were sending to someone's AOL address, them blocking it doesn't surprise me... but I have never heard of them filtering outgoing mail? Weird.

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Dynamix

They filter incoming AND outgoing mail, both local->local (AOL user to AOL user) and local->remote (AOL user to another ISP) and have been doing this for some time now.

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Call them, let them know why you are leaving, and cancel your account.

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dcortez

It was from a non-AOL address to a non-aol address.

I have never had this happen before.

I send tons of emails (individual letters to collegues) with adult content (links, descriptions, etc.) and I've never had AOL respond with 'it refuses to send the email' because it thinks it's spam.

Is that going to be the new style of censorship - call it spam.

For those of you who have already assumed that this is status quo with them, please bear with me.

I'd like a good sounding on how many others have had their wings clipped by AOL without any wrong doing?

Thanks,
-Dino

p.s. Am I the only one that is deeply concerned about the implications of this?

xenophobic

I had the same problem with a client using AOL whom used to complain constantly that email using our mail server took over an hour to deliver. I had him telnet to our servers port 25 and paste me the string and it gave the AOL's mail server banner, it seems they route all outgoing traffic to port 25 (SMTP) to their own mail server.
It is so transparent most people don't even notice it.

Furious_Female

Hmm... I didn't know they filtered outgoing (for an average customer) as well. They are bastards!

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dcortez

Exactly.

I was surprised hen I found out they were routing my port 25 traffic without even letting me know.

-Dino

Dynamix

Welcome to AOL. They've done this since AOL2.5 in 1996.

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Furious_Female

Unfortunately you and others would be in the minority of adult rights activists complaining about AOL's censorship. With the millions of antis and wannabe vigilantes on AOL, they would probably be happy that you had a problem "littering the internet with smut related material." So yeah you're virtually alone when it comes to being concerned about this. Sad isn't it?

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dcortez

Apparently, from what I understand, the censorship is not limited to the left - 'unorthodox right' thinking is not allowed to pass through their system either.

And you guys just accept it?

-Dino

netnut

yes AOL has been censoring the internet for years, where have you been?

dcortez

Using the internet since 1996 and have never been stopped in my tracks like this till now.

KRL

I think they are doing that. One of my sales guys uses AOL from home and has this problem where his adult e-mails get filtered.

BellSouth is also doing it on certain adult domains that have been blacklisted into their SMTP filters.

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chupacabra

i have not been able to send an email from my domains to any AOL address for well over a year now, i get an undeliverable bounce w/in an hour each time..

Bigjohn

Nope, we don't use AOL. AOHELL is a private service, they can do anything they want. They've ben censoring the internet since they opened.