BlogWonks

I guess I did something wrong….

Hi, Bob.

I am a computer software professional with over 40 years in the computer business, so please don't think that what I'm telling you here is nuts.

Earlier today I tried to send some folks an email with a link to this article on your web site: http://www.black-and-right.com/2008/11/09/viral-email-of-the-day-20/#more-11017. I sent that message via my bellsouth.net (now AT&T) email account, but the message was never delivered. I then sent it again via my own web site's outgoing email server (which is completely independent of AT&T), and it went through. (I am sending this message via my own web site's email server, too, and cc'ing myself at one of my alternative email addresses, to make sure it goes out.)

I then sent the same message via bellsouth again, only this time I removed the above link from the message, and this time the message went through. Finally, I sent a new message that contained only the link, with nothing else in the body of the message. The outgoing message was again blocked by bellsouth.net, but not by my own email server.

My conclusion based on these tests is that AT&T's outgoing email servers are blocking email based on content, and that outgoing email containing links to your site are being blocked by them. Lest you think I'm nuts, I have seen this happen before and can provide you with the details of that incident as well (it involved, of all things, a link to a page on the official campaign web site of one of the presidential candidates.)

I thought that you would want to know that AT&T is engaging in this censorship of outgoing email, which I consider to be a violation of our First Amendment rights.

And by the way, I forgot to mention the most egregious aspect of AT&T's blocking of outgoing email based purely on content. When they do it, they don't tell you, the sender, that they're doing it. That is, they don't "bounce" the message back to you with an explanation of why they're not letting it go out. They just suppress your message, and you never know it wasn't sent. Reprehensible.

Could this be the new norm in the Age of Obama?

Related posts:

1. Yet Another Technical Update The server switch took place on Sunday morning, and I'm...
2. Monday’s Column, Blogroll Addition & a Technical Note A couple of notes on yet another manic Monday, aside...
3. Still No Convention Bounce for “The One” Actually, with leaners included, McCain has pulled slightly in front...
4. Viral Email Of The Day I don't know what's worse: telling a young kid there's...
5. ‘Drug Running Jet’ Becomes ‘CIA Torture Plane’ in the Blink of an Eye Every once in a while, I get an email from...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.