On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:27:55 -0700 Gary Smith <gary.sm...@holdstead.com> wrote:
> > > Because as I said numerous times I'm not talking about ISPs. I'm not > > sure precisely which part of "I'm not talking about ISPs" you don't > > understand. > > > > Are you not aware that there are companies that provide email > > services without being ISPs: Google, Fastmail, Tuffmail etc. > > > > Just because they don't provide your connection to the internet > doesn't mean they aren't an ISP. The definition of ISP has changed, > or evolved over time. Clearly, freemail providers fall into that > category nowadays. In my experience email service providers are called ESPs. An ESP provides an internet service, but is only an ISP to the same extent that an NNTP provider is an ISP. It would be absurd to call Giganews an ISP, and it's equally absurd to call Google an ISP. The common understanding of the term ISP is that it's an organisation that provides network connectivity. To extend its meaning to any provider of an internet service renders the term virtually meaningless. > As mentioned, there are clear reasons for what ISP's, and mail server > admins, do what they do. I've no idea what you think I wrote, but that has no relevance to anything I've written. > I remember when yahoo was an open relay and no ISP or mail server > blocked ports from their service. The result was the invention of > spam. FWIW Spam actually started in USENET. > This group is against spam. You don't have to use the > product, but others do, and if you don't like that, complain to them. Again, I've no idea what relevance that has to anything I've written. All I ever said in his thread was that I don't in general rate ISP mail very highly, and that if an ISP blocks outgoing connections to port 25 you can still connect to a third-party server through either the submission port or the SMTPS port. Despite the fact that I repeated ad nausem that I'm not talking about connecting to ISP mail servers, Res kept repeating over and over again that it's not supported by all ISPs. And then you chimed-in with your contribution - which I think is overpriced. > Just my $0.02
