[mail-vet-discuss] Draft as of 9/4/2007

[Michael Thomas]

John L wrote:
>> Tell me, do you pass viruses and phishing along to your users, or do you
>> filter them at the border?
>
> Neither.  Sometimes I filter at the border, sometimes when I'm tuning 
> filters or collecting statistics, I let them go another hop or two 
> before I catch them.  What's the point of making this false choice?
>
>> For all intents and purposes, an AR header across an administrative 
>> domain might just as well be viewed as a phishing attempt since it 
>> may well be trying to give a false sense of security to some victim.
>
> Since I've already addressed this point three times, I don't see much 
> point in going over it again.  MTAs keep multiple levels of Received: 
> headers, too, some of which are faked, and the world hasn't come to an 
> end.

Received headers aren't trying to cop attitude about something being 
"authentic".
>
> Honestly, I have trouble understanding what point you're trying to make.
>> From what you've been saying, the most straightforward interpretation 
> would be that you're too dim to imagine that there are mail systems 
> that don't work exactly the way that yours does.  Since I know you're 
> not, I'm at a loss as to why you keep insisting that I don't run my 
> mail system the way that I do.
The point I'm trying to make is that net-nanny like pronouncements of
MUST/SHOULD NOT are pointless if an admin thinks some part of their
population is going to be fooled by it: they'll just ignore it and strip 
away.
If you don't want strip, be my guest, but don't expect me to run my mail
system to accommodate your corner case.


       Mike