This is *absolutely* unacceptable. SBC sock puppets are wandering forums such as this one, telling users to bypass port 25 -- as if it's *our* fault.

The user above is exactly correct. This port blocking is done to protect SBS from lawsuits brought by angry SPAM recipients. Nor is port 25 blocked across the board. SBC has decided to selectively block users from port 25 based on what *they* feel is a profile of "risky" or "suspicious" behavior -- for example, sending mail from Eudora, instead of the "approved" (=nasty) MS Outlook; sending mail from more than one SMTP server.

This was done to me without any sort of warning. I have had no ability to send email for a day; and it's not fixed yet. I never send any sort of broadcast email of any kind, nothing even remotely approaching SPAM, not even a chatty circular email to friends and family, let alone anything commercial. Any commercial email I send is directly to a single recipient for a specific piece of business, usually pre-existing.

Now, I've got upset clients who wonder why I don't get in touch with them. The last time I got a class-action notice in the mail for SBC DSL I threw it away; I thought it was a cheap shot at a big target, and I've been very happy with the service.

What do you think I will do the next time I'm invited to join a class action? Meanwhile, COMCAST is pushing their broadband solution very hard.

SOLUTION: Call SBC and ream them out very hard. Tell them to turn on your port 25 until such time as they can show you a complaint from someone that you SPAMmed. Let them know how utterly unacceptable it is for them to fool with your connection. Join the next class-action lawsuit and soak SBC down. Switch to COMCAST broadband, if you like.

I don't like SPAM,but I'm not afraid of it. I use Eudora, which deals with whatever junk Mochamail doesn't catch. Of course, I use Macintosh. Between the two, of course, I just don't have to worry about Outlook address book virus-SPAM going out from *my* machine.

If you like, you may write to me at:

xiong@mochamail.com