Erm, I'd tell my cable provider precisely where to stick it they did that and yeah, I wouldn't complain too much, I'd just switch to someone else.
Don't worry! I'm not worried that cable providers as a whole will clean up their act any time soon! ;~0
Oh, look, it appears that some large ISP's are already doing this:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/38004
I guess it is only a matter of time before this is the rule, not the exception.
Now, asking at signup time if you'd like this protection, with the option to say "no leave me alone" or "help me stay clean, block these ports except to these addresses" I don't object to, but please don't suggest that home users aren't allowed basic connectivity - if I wanted to be treated like a child I'd go back to school.
As Bryan said, this isn't for _your_ protection, it is for the good of the Internet community as a whole. If you cannot be bothered to register your IP address(es) for SMTP outbound traffic on a web site, then if I was your ISP, I wouldn't be terribly sorry to see you leave. No one is suggesting that you /cannot/ use your own box to send out e-mail; we are just suggesting that you have a one-time signup for the priveledge of doing so...
John
