[ale] Speedfactory now requires mail contents to be readable

[W. Keith Miller]

Just to make a note, sometimes the zip decompressor scan only goes one
deep (Mailscanner can be configured this way).  One idea if you must
send a password protected zip is to bury the password protected one 2 or
more deep. Yes it is annoying. Of course other alternatives are to
encrypt the package (ala gpg or PGP) or use a "drop point" .  Just some
thoughts. I do agree that Speedfactory is doing a bit of CYA .  I only
wish these policy shifts would get posted so we don't find out about
them the hard way (ala news feeds)

K








runman wrote:

>My ISP is Speedfactory and I chose them primarily because I
>really wanted just a plain pipe - a static ip that worked, a
>few email boxes and some disk space for a really small 
>family web site.  Nothing more.  No AOL-isms no Compu-Serve
>proprietary browser, no Bell South taking me for an
>expensive ride, nothing else - just a simple IP.
>
>Recently I attempted to send a friend an email with a
>password protected zip file as an attachment.  The file
>created an error on the mailserver - something about not
>being able to examine the contents of the attachment.  I
>called Speedfactory and talked first to a technician who
>soon referred me to her supervisor (odd as most of the folks
>who in the past have answered my calls were really
>knowledgeable).  I was then told that Speedfactory's virus
>checker choked on any attachment that it could not read. 
>What the h-e-double toothpicks ?????  Why is my ISP suddenly
>having this requirement to "read my attachments" ???  I am
>running both Norton AV and AVG (as well as MS Outlook) and
>*none of them* has a problem with password protected files. 
>I would thought that my programs would be the most likely
>culprits.
>
>While I don't usually password protect my attachments I
>would certainly like the opportunity to do so if I want/need
>to do so.  I don't think that this was a requirement when I
>signed up and I have not been told since then that my ISP is
>now in the mail-reading business.  Pres. Bush, the NSA, and
>the Homeland Security bunch I understand, but my ISP ????? 
>(or are they all together now ??)
>
>Is anyone else aware of this ?? Any Speedfactory customers
>out there perfectly happy with this ? ... am I (and possibly
>Aaron) the only ones upset over this ?  Is this a case of a
>stupid anti-virus program / stupid ISP or "homeland
>non-security" gone wild or  am I just being paranoid /
>expecting too much ???
>
>I can understand some idiots who expect an ISP to do what
>should be the responsibility of the enduser but this is
>crazy.  All ISP's should know that there are folks who will
>encrypt mail as well as send stuff in crazy formats.  And
>Speedfactory should know that they have many customers who
>want a plain vanilla IP and no interference.  Has their
>customer base changed or have they been taken over ???
>
>I guess if Speedfactory will continue this nonsense I will
>be building my own mailserver and/or going somewhere else. 
>Somehow I get the feeling that they (Speedfactory) are going
>downhill much like Mindspring did when they merged with
>Earthlink.
>_______________________________________________
>Ale mailing list
>Ale at ale.org
>http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>
>  
>