RE: How's this for fun?

["Logan5" <Logan5 () logan5 com>]

I ran into a similar situation with an ISP here in the states, I won't
name them (but they're in the SOUTHWESTERN area, a daughter of BELL) who
blocked tcp port 25 from dialup clients (okay, this was years ago).  We
routed through at least 3 different levels of tech support arguing about
our business salesman trying to send email via the company server and got
nowhere.  It wasn't until we contacted their marketing department and
asked about their advertisement for "unlimited internet access" that
corporate pressure was applied, and our man was able to send email (or at
least telnet to tcp/25, email RCPT TO:'s became an issue...).
So, the greatest part of our frustration was due to the inability of the
tech support guys from doing anything - they understood what we were
trying to do, but their "script" said they couldn't do anything about it.
 Nowadays I long for those guys when I get on with the "online tech
support chat" for my cablemodem (and ask why I can telnet to RFC1918 hosts
- their eyes glaze over).
I totally agree with the idea of restriction-free subscriptions per user
request... perhaps they could validate the sanity of it with a technical
test of the customer vs. tech support.


-----Original Message-----
From: Drsolly <drsollyp () drsolly com>
To: Blanchard_Michael () emc com
Cc: Sonny.Discini () montgomerycountymd gov, funsec () linuxbox org
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:07:37 +0100 (BST)
Subject: RE: [funsec] How's this for fun?

> While we're beefing about blocking, how about this.
>
> I use Vodafone for my mobile, and I use their GPRS service. When I was 
> setting it up, I had really big problems - I couldn't even get as far
> as 
> pinging things.
>
> Eventually, I got it working, and guess what - you can't ping from a 
> computer that's logged in to their GPRS network. The bastards blocked
> PING 
> ... and didn't tell me!
>
>
>
> On Thu, 27 Oct 2005 Blanchard_Michael () emc com wrote:
>
> >  It would be very nice fi the ISP's would give you an option for "no
> blocks
> > of any kind" on your pipe.  That would make me happy.
> >
> >   Although, I don't' really have any complaints about my local
> comcast
> > office.  It's just the priciple behind blocking without telling, and
> whether
> > you require the block or not, type deal.
> >
> >   I cartainly agree with keeping costs low and helpdesk calls to a
> minimum.
> > Just give me a way to not have any blocks put on my account.
> >
> >
> > Michael P. Blanchard 
> > Antivirus / Security Engineer, CISSP, GCIH, MCSE, MCP+I 
> > Office of Information Security & Risk Management 
> > EMC ² Corporation 
> > 4400 Computer Dr. 
> > Westboro, MA 01580 
> > email:  Blanchard_Michael () EMC COM 
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: funsec-bounces () linuxbox org
> [mailto:funsec-bounces () linuxbox org] On
> > Behalf Of Discini, Sonny
> > Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005 2:38 PM
> > To: funsec () linuxbox org
> > Subject: RE: [funsec] How's this for fun?
> >
> > > I wholly disagree with this as well.  If I have a mailing 
> > > list with 2million people on it, I should be able to send 2 
> > > million messages within an hour. I'm paying for a pipe, that 
> > > is all.  IMHO they have no right to limit my usage in any way 
> > > shape or form.  They do by upload speed.  Right now at home I 
> > > only have 400k upload, that would limit the amount of 
> > > messages I could send to that 2million person mailing list.
> > >
> > >   Why should I have to pay more just because some idiots send 
> > > spam to 10's of millions of people and I only want to operate 
> > > my Crochet hobby list?  I'm already paying for the pipe, and 
> > > certain speed up/down.  The speed should be the limit, not 
> > > the number of mail messages I send....
> > >
> > >  Mike B
> >
> > My ISP clipped SMTP but they did place a notice buried 20 pages deep
> in
> > their support site (thanks). They also clipped 445 and 139 while they
> > were at it but somehow forgot to mention this.
> >
> > What's interesting to me is that ISPs tend to behave like Governments
> > when they make changes like this. 
> >
> > 10 They all state that the changes are in your best interest. 
> > 20 They believe that placing the change across the board is the
> easiest,
> > fastest (and cheapest) way to prevent reoccurrence.
> > 30 When someone finds a way around the change, GOTO 10.
> >
> > Honestly though, this is a very very tough issue to completely
> resolve.
> > I mean, we're paying for the pipe but when you have 90% of the
> internet
> > population oblivious to what really happens behind those pretty
> windows
> > they're clicking, ISPs find themselves in a tough spot. Do they allow
> > the pipe to stay wide open only to increase their support calls by
> 80%
> > (and hemorrhage cash from their bottom line) when their customers get
> > infected with [insert any one of millions of horrible things] or do
> they
> > attempt to cut out the support costs by taking away certain
> > functionality? There are also operational costs associated with this
> > issue but I think I will bail out before I take the fun out of
> funsec.
> > ;-)
> >   
> >
> > Tough call none the less.
> >
> > Sonny Discini, Senior Network Security Engineer
> > Department of Technology Services
> > Enterprise Infrastructure Division
> > Montgomery County Government
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts.
> > https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec
> > Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts.
> > https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec
> > Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts.
> https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec
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