SMTP Relays...

But they have a right to ensure that, and by forcing you to put that traffic through their server first, they at least have an opportunity to check it. If they force it and don't check, I agree that's overly restrictive. But if they're checking, more power to 'em in my book. That may be true, but look at who you are dealing with. Many of them really don't have a clue how all this works, they just buy some mass-mailing email package specifically built for spamming, buy/make/scrape lists, and have at it. I'd wager that most of them bought the package from a spam they received. Regardless, they don't have a clue how it really works and why. Some of them don't even bother to change data in fields where it says "<changethis>". The kind of plumbing you are talking about, although relatively simple, is out of reach of their technical skill (which is negligible). ISPs are also dealing with worm- and bot-infected servers and clients on their networks spreading email-based infections or becoming remote platforms for spamming. Here we sit in 2004 and people still don't get that you MUST protect yourself from viruses, and that IF your machine becomes a vector YOU are responsible for it and YOU MUST clean it up. ISPs have long been chasing people who have infected machines who are mass-mailing worms to other systems in huge volume, and in many cases people do nothing about it because they don't know what to do and it isn't affecting their operation of their system as far as they can tell. Despite warnings from ISPs, coverage in mass-media, and monthly dire warnings from Nostradamus Symantecus, people still open attachments in email from people they don't know, and they still run their systems without any kind of virus protection, still connect their machines without a firewall (or turn it off because it's "getting in the way"), and set up their home wireless networks without security of any kind. The time spent by ISPs chasing the lazy and the clue-challenged is escalating, and they have to do something to relieve that, or the cost of that effort is going to be distributed to all of us. There has to be a balance. And people have to get used to the idea that the Internet isn't the Wild West any more. It was great when we were all students and working cooperatively to connect each other, share information, and experiment with the possibility that one day you'd be able to talk to someone behind the iron curtain surreptitiously about your theories in particle physics or what makes a really good beer. Times have changed. You can't just do what you want when you want, all for free or close to it, and demand that it work perfectly all the time as well. It's a global community, and you have to take responsibility for your role in it, work by its rules, and be adaptable as they change. I can't respond to this except to say that aside from the fact that this statement is inappropriately inflammatory and doesn't reflect well on your argument, it's completely baseless. Hmmm, I think that's a good use for a VPN (assuming that's a corporate service you're referring to). Or how about just choosing another port? Set up an MTA that will only forward to your Exchange server, and put it on port 50025. I'm not sure all MUAs allow you to configure the SMTP port, but all the ones I use do (and for the record, I mostly use Microsoft-provided MUAs). In any case, I don't think I'm going to change your opinion, and you certainly will not change mine. There's been some impassioned discussion of this topic on the NANOG mail list recently as well, I think people are as divided on it as you and I are. But I think everyone can agree that between spamming and mass-mailing worms, the simple elegant utility of email is being brutally tarnished. --Patrick