On Wed, Sep 24, 2003 at 03:25:51PM +0100, Tim Trent wrote:
> I'm not sure if my reply will get through! I'm working at home today, using
> BT as my ISP.
>
> JANET is unaffected. They are the party who has started to use the MAPS
> list of IP addresses that are being spam blocked. When I say "unaffected" I
> mean, of course, that their outbound mail is unaffected unless their IP
> addresses are spamblocked elsewhere.
JANET have a MATS RBL+ feed, which various sites use. It is a commercial
service which appears to be run in a very professional manner.
> BT are now working hard at resolving the matter. It is an issue of the
> "unpoliced" state of some lists, the "impossibility" of some lists,
> especially some of their amateur nature. MAPS, for example, sends reports
> to email addresses in the format of "abuse@ip address of issuing mail
> server" and refuses (currently) to understand that a huge operator such as
> BT has mail servers which fire mail out through many "load balancing" front
> end machines which have IP addresses but no capability to receive email
> addressed in such a manner.
This isn't correct. When the BT addresses referred to were listed in
the RBL, there was a copy of the email sent to the abuse address
([log in to unmask]), and not "abuse@ip address of issuing mail
server". See
http://www.mailabuse.com/cgi-bin/show_listing.cgi?673081
for an example of a listed BTinternet address. As you will see the
warning was sent to [log in to unmask] It appears that BTinternet
choose to resource their abuse address in such a way that all people
receive is an automated reply. If BT had replied to the original
message they may well have been able to avoid getting listed.
I managed to contact their abuse team on 10th September and received
a response the next day (this was not none through their abuse address).
I'm surprised that it is taking so long to sort out.
>
> Additionally the helpdesk at BT is in need of education.
>
> This does not yet solve the problem, of course.
>
> And that doesn't even get us to working out what, if any, DP Principles are
> being broken, nor by whom.
>
> Let's assume an unnamed principle has been broken. BT is not the data
> processor for email, yet is not the data controller. By definition one must
> be one or the other. But I do not contract with BT to be my data processor
> any more that I contract with any other mail routing organisation.
> BT does not contract with the providers of the IP address lists, nor does it
> contract with (eg) Maps, nor Messagelabs.
>
> JANET (in this learned list's case) is not the Data Processor (for me at
> least) nor the data controller, yet it again must be one or the other. But
> JANET contracts with Maps to provide an IP address list.
>
> So, assuming that a principle has been broken, ignoring WHICH principle, WHO
> has broken it?
It isn't at all clear that any principles have been broken in refusing the email.
MAPS list addresses using certain published criteria. It is relatively easy
to get in and out of the lists. Various JANET sites choose not to accept mail
form addresses provided in those listings. They are IP addresses and not personal
data.
What has this got to do with DATA protection? There is nothing in the
act that obliges people to accept email from particular systems or to
force particular policies on people running list servers. I'm not
aware of any other legislation preventing mail managers from applying
policies regarding which systems they accept email from.
If the message itself constitutes personal data, where is the obligation
to process it?
If BTinternet are tolerant of spammers, or unresponsive to complaints, their
customers will start to suffer as people block email from their servers. If
customers are unhappy with this they are at liberty to take their custom
elsewhere. I hope that this is something of a one off and they will sort it
out soon.
Chris Bayliss
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