I must admit, it is ammusing to see a redacted email forward being passed off as vindication for the original complaint.
Brett On Sun, Feb 03, 2008 at 03:25:34PM -0600, willhill wrote: > Thank you for looking at the problem because I'd like to have good service > from Cox. I followed advice from BRLUG members and now use Google's SMTP > server. That fixed my immediate technical problem but the larger trust > issue is unresolved. Because it's Cox's intention to let third parties > monitor every word of every email I write, I'll be happier when my friends > and family all have email clients with easy to use encryption. Drastic > measures from Cox will be required to restore the trust of anyone who thinks > through what I noticed. I want your company to champion the interests of > customers rather than cave in to the demands of other companies. > > First, Cox will have to overcome some basic communications issues. I've > never > been able to find adequate explanations on the Cox site for changes in > network policies. Worse, there's no transparent way for cutsomers to > ask questions or tell you what they think. > > Dell's Idea Storm web site is a good example of user feedback that has been > good for the parent company. A similar site for Cox would give you a better > idea of how to serve your customers. > > I agree that spam is a problem but don't like the way Cox is dealing with it. > > Do you really expect customers to trust an unnamed vendor with all of their > mail? Don't you think that people would like the ability to opt out of your > filter and employ one of their own? Providing a service is commendable. > Mandating a filter is outrageous and prone to abuse which we now know is out > of Cox's control. Do Cox have any way to insure the vendor is not selling > customer information to companies like ChoicePoint? Does Cox know if they > are > participating in illegal wiretaps for corporate or political suppression? Is > that the kind of world you want? In any case, Cox is not addressing the > root cause of the spam problem which is insecure software. Cox should > recommend free software to their customers and cut off machines that are > being used to abuse others. If Cox continues to ignore the root problem > they are doomed to a never ending cycles of costly failure. Everything else > has failed and other half measures will do the same. > > There are many other issues where Cox should know how customers feel. > Cox inherited a free and open network from AtHome and every step away from > that bothered me. On several occasions, I've been bothered enough to put my > name on a list and risk retaliation. I don't know how many other people > those steps bothered nor, I suspect, do you. > > I'm sure that my opinion is shared by many more Cox customers. It's not > just LUG members and computer enthusiasts that are aggravated. When I ask > around, people roll their eyes and tell me they get error messages "all the > time" which they never bother to read. Most people route around the problem > some other way regardless of the details. Other companies will offer what > Cox does not and your customers will think of Cox as some kind of impediment. > > People who care are doing much more and that's why there are Congressional > investigations into wiretapping and interfering with network traffic. > > It is not enough for Cox to complain that others will punish them for > standing > up for customers. Giving in to those others only increases their power > over Cox. By fighting them, you are not just standing up for customers you > are protecting your company's reputation and future. If Cox does not do > this, Cox does not live up to its exclusive franchise obligations and > pressure > will mount for competition or replacement. Open spectrum promisses a real > communications revolution that will obsolete expensive cable networks like > Cox's and most of the companies that are now exerting pressure on Cox to > violate customer privacy and restrict customer's ability to share. Those > violations are so contrary to the mission of a communications company that > you must do everything possible to avoid even the perception that you > cooperting with the violators. If Cox is to be trusted in the future they > must do what's right now. > > I realize that these issues are beyond your power but you asked about my > concerns. Likewise, you owe me no apology unless you are an advocate of port > blocks and whole network filters. If you are an advocate of such things, I > hope that you will one day change your mind. > > I'm forwarding this to the BRLUG and CCCC lists because I think they are > interested. You might want to join the BRLUG if you are not already a member > and speak for Cox and yourself there. Your name and some of the content > below > has been removed for what little protection that offers. > > On Friday 01 February 2008 1:28 pm, you wrote: > > Mr. Hill, > > > > My name is NAME_REMOVED and I work REMOVED at > > Cox Communications. REMOVED I was recently made aware of an article on > > slashdot.org regarding blocking of an outbound message containing your > > IP address. While we do scan our outbound messages for spam related > > content, it is never our intention to filter out legitimate email. The > > message containing your IP address was blocked by our anti-spam > > application and should not have occurred. REMOVED MENTION OF UNNAMED > > ANTISPAM VENDOR. > > > > As you know, spam filtering is a necessity. If our inbound spam rate is > > high then our customers suffer. Likewise, if our outbound spam rate is > > high, then our mail servers get blocked by other email providers and our > > customers suffer from that action as well. Naturally we strive to > > filter out both inbound and outbound spam without false positives. I > > apologize for this error and will work to make sure that this does not > > occur again. > > > > Please do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions or concerns. > > > > Sincerely, > > NAME REMOVED > > _______________________________________________ > General mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net _______________________________________________ General mailing list [email protected] http://mail.brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
