[TAG] A couple of questions regarding Mail policy

[Neil Youngman]

On Tuesday 22 Jun 2004 7:01 pm, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 22, 2004 at 05:09:50PM +0530, Kapil Hari Paranjape wrote:

<SNIP>

> > 2. We have a number of users who insist on their need to keep ".forward"
> > files. Now, it is possible (likely) that a spammer sends them mail which
> > then gets forwarded to a host that tags it as spam. Any *reasonable*
> > spam filtering and tagging mechanism should not then tag *our* host as a
> > source of spam or a relay for spam. But could this happen? Is it likely
> > to happen given the policy of various RBL's and the like?
>
> I don't think it's possible to give an accurate answer to this, alas.

AIUI most RBLs only tag you as an open relay if they can relay mail through 
your host. 

There may be some who use an analysis of headers on reported spam, but I  
would expect them to identify the relay at the point where the spoofed 
headers end and the real headers begin, so they probably wouldn't tag your 
host as the source of the problem.

Also they are unlikely to black hole you without some warning.

So in short there is unlikely to be a problem, but ultimately the RBLs will 
make their own decisions.

Neil Youngman