IP: more on Google retaliates against comcast.net (fwd)

[David Farber <dfarber@earthlink.net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Spannaus <tim@emdicium.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 23:13:42 
To: farber@cis.upenn.edu
Subject: Re: IP: more on  Google retaliates against comcast.net (fwd)



Dave --

I am a Comcast subscriber, and while I can use the Google search engine, 
Microsoft blocks me from sending mail from the Comcast domain to WebTV 
subscribers.

This is the email I received from WebTV customer support after email to my 
parents was blocked.



>Thank you for contacting MSN TV.
>
>We understand your parents are not able to receive your emails as you have 
>a comcast.net provider.
>
>We regret the inconvemnience caused.
>
>It sounds like your e-mail may not be getting to your parents because you 
>are sending it from a domain that has been blocked by MSN TV service. MSN 
>TV blocks certain domains that are known for sending large amounts of 
>unsolicited e-mail, or Spam. That is not to say that you are sending Spam, 
>but as long as your parents choose to leave the Spam Filter on, they will 
>not be able to recieve e-mail from banned domain names.

At 02:01 PM 4/17/2002 -0500, you wrote:

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jamie McCarthy <jamie@mccarthy.vg>
>Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 14:53:19
>To: farber@cis.upenn.edu
>Subject: Re: IP: Google retaliates against comcast.net (fwd)
>
> > it looks like search engines will never be the same again.
>
>As the news report itself notes, this behavior is not new.
>
>Any web service that provides information that requires significant
>resources -- for example, doing a query on a database that indexes
>the entire internet! -- can easily be DoS'd (denial-of-serviced) by
>one idiot with a cable modem and a perl script.
>
>Why should Google allow thousands of dollars worth of equipment to
>be tied up for hours or days, providing data to one person for free?
>
>Providers of services that don't require user login have only one
>option:  shutting off connections for a group of IP numbers,
>typically the idiot's modem pool.  This will usually catch innocent
>users too.  One can only hope there is a contact email address
>provided and a human staffer at the other end to rectify as much of
>the collateral damage as possible.
>
>Meanwhile, there are enough open HTTP proxies out there to allow the
>idiot with the perl script to bomb sites from literally thousands of
>proxies simultaneously.  Such Distributed Denial of Service attacks
>appear to come from all over the net and are almost impossible to
>stop.  My prediction is that open web proxies will be seen in a few
>years as open mail proxies are today:  enablers of resource theft.
>And they will be stomped out by the same unpleasant blacklist
>tactics as we currently see being used against spam.  The era of
>anonymous net access is in its final months, thanks to the idiots.
>--
>  Jamie McCarthy
>  jamie@mccarthy.vg
>
>For archives see:
>http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/

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