--- Forwarded Message from Judy Shoaf <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 08:54:39 -0400
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum               <[log in to unmask]>
>From: Judy Shoaf <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #5606 Internet problem

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>The people who set up the server finally found what they think is the
>problem. They say that somehow our server was used to launch a spam
>attack and it was therefore put on a blacklist.

Fascinating! I moderate an email list, and something similar has occurred
from time to time as the listserv has installed protections against
spammers. Some of the people subscribed to the list cannot post to the list
because their email nodes are tagged as potential spammers. When I
understood this,  I was able to work with the listserv management to get
those addresses taken off the list of spammers.

About a year ago, the listserv tried to implement a filter that would
exclude all email nodes that did not conform to a high level of security.
Not only most of the list, but I myself (who must post all material from my
own address!) could not reach the list. (Interestingly, it turned out that
while clas.ufl.edu did have this level of security, it was ufl.edu that did
not and was keeping me from being able to post.) When the folks who run the
listserv realized that their own addresses were excluded as well, they
dumped the filtering project.

Presumably the new filter that is excluding your address was devised to try
to protect commercial websites from the kind of spamming caused by the
recent virus, in which quite innocent users who hosted the virus became the
source of repeated hits on commercial sites, slowing them down so that
legitimate customers could not access them comfortably.

I would suggest you make a list of the websites that you are having trouble
with and see if you can email the companies to let them know that your site
is being blocked. They surely don't want to block legitimate customers. If
the server is being blocked because it does not have a security system to
protect against the virus which produces web spam, your server managers
should probably install the virus protection.

I hope this helps.

Judy Shoaf
University of Florida