Johannesburg, 09 Feb 2004
Local asymmetrical subscriber line (ADSL) users are likely to be blocked by thousands of servers linked to international anti-spam systems, warns the Communication Users Association of South Africa (CUASA).
CUASA says it appears Telkom`s entire range of IP addresses used to deliver e-mail through ADSL have been blacklisted as a result of South African spammers abusing the dynamic IP addressing system that allows them to switch to a new IP address each time they log on.
"Initial investigations revealed that at least two online blacklisting systems, Spamblock and Sorbs, considered all South African ADSL users to be spammers," says Edwin Thompson, CUASA executive committee member. "It is likely that similar systems are still rejecting ADSL users."
Telkom says CUASA`s warning creates the wrong impression. "Most dynamic IP addresses are blacklisted, not only those in SA, because they are exploited by spammers," says Telkom spokesman Jaco Lech. "Most users who attempt to connect to mail servers directly are doing so with the intention of sending spam."
Lech explains that if ADSL subscribers are using a legitimate Internet service provider (ISP) outgoing (SMTP) mail server or their ISP`s SMPT server points to the saix.net server, no problems will be experienced in sending out mail.
"If an ISP`s outgoing mail server is blacklisted for any reason, subscribers will be blocked, but that is not Telkom`s problem and should be taken up with the ISP concerned."
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