Re: Port 25 inbound blocking

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Livingood, Jason" <Jason_Livingood () cable comcast com>
Date: February 24, 2009 8:57:23 PM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>, ip <ip () v2 listbox com>, Paula  
Keezer <paula_ke () yahoo com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Port 25 inbound blocking

Hi Paula -

See my replies inline below.

> Please reconsider the decision to block inbound port 25.  I understand
> the spam fighting efforts for outbound port 25.  Creating alternate
> outbound paths for legitimate email users is fairly easy and does not
> stifle innovative uses of the web.

Port 25 blocking, as was noted on IP last week, is increasingly being  
used
by ISPs around the world to combat the problem of spam.  Comcast does  
not
currently block port 25 for all residential subscribers; this is done  
on a
case-by-case basis, generally in response to abuse complaints, spam
detection, or other spam indicators.  We have a special team in our  
Customer
Security Assurance group that can help you understand if there is a  
port 25
block in place or not, and you can ask them to consider lifting that  
block.
Their contact info is at
http://security.comcast.net/get-help/contact-comcast-security.aspx

> However, blocking inbound port 25
> is erroneous and will stifle innovation amongst legitimate users.  As
> more computers infiltrate the home and servers (media, game and
> otherwise) become powerful facilities in the home, it will become
> natural for users to make use of email and other communications ports
> to contact their home servers.

I'm not aware of any legitimate use of inbound port 25 other than for
running an email server.  (see additional note below)  I do not  
believe this
in any way, shape, or form stifles innovation.

> An example of such a use is a personal use photo gallery system I have
> on my media server.  I have several ways to load photos into my
> gallery which I enjoy on my locally connected hi def televisions (no
> need to plog up the net moving medium or low def pictures from flicker
> or other net based architectures, I have my own little personal cloud
> which is much faster thank you).  Recently I have built an email
> server that just recieves mail from my cell phone.  I send images
> through my cell phone ISP as mail attachements with a simple category
> message and my media server recieves the images and puts them into my
> gallery.  This is for my personal use and I believe it to be quite
> legitimate.

Sounds like you may have developed this software yourself, but I'm not  
sure.
If that is *not* the case, I'm curious what software you used.  Either  
way,
perhaps you can use an alternative such as a POP client on the media  
server
that checks a special mailbox for just such pictures on a periodic  
basis.
You can of course copy the photos locally onto your media server, and  
you
could also leave a copy on the server as a backup in the network.

> Due to Comcast port blocking of inbound port 25, my little gallery
> project no longer works.  Sadly, I believe I did some inovative work
> and am being stiffled by Comcast's inbound port 25 policy.
>
> As my server does not send mail at all, there is no way it can become
> a port 25 zombi for spammers.

Never say never.  ;-)  You'd be quite surprised what is possible and  
I've
had many folks even say they work in network security and so on, and  
there's
no way the could have been infested with a bot, when it turns out that  
they
were just as vulnerable to these things (or nearly so) as most people.

> I have a legitimate use.  I am a long
> time paying customer of the Comcast ISP but find that the ISP in
> Comcast is becoming more of a CPS  (couch potatoe surfer).

As I noted above, you may wish to contact our Customer Security  
Assurance
team to request a removal of the block.  But, in my personal opinion,  
that
is a short-term tactic.  In the long-term, since more and more ISPs are
blocking port 25 across-the-board and since port 25 is subject to such
massive abuse, you'd be smart to figure out an alternative method for
getting your photos onto your media server.

Along those lines, you may also want to participate in our user forums  
at
http://forums.comcast.net (there is one entire forum on just email  
topics),
and share ideas about how your app works and how to improve it, etc.

> Please reconsider your policy of blocking inbound port 25. This does
> not solve the spam problem (please continue to block outgoing port 25
> as this does solve the spam problem)  Forcing inovators such as my
> self to contract an outside email relay port hopping service is not a
> 'fair use' strategy and not a customer centric focus.
>
> Thank you for your time,
>
> Paula Keezer
> 149 Nw 75th St
> Seattle, WA, 98117



Regards,
Jason

Jason Livingood
National Engineering & Technical Operations
Comcast Cable Communications






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