[epub] Re: SPF anyone?

[Dawn Rivers Baker <editor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Chris.

I can tell you about an interesting experiment that I accidentally conducted.

I published my SPF record about a month or so ago and I did notice an 
almost immediate drop in the number of bounces I was getting ... but here's 
the thing.

In order to fully realize the benefits of my updated zone file, I changed 
the sending options for my HTML newsletter (which is my larger list) so 
that I was sending it out using my domain's STMP connection. But, for some 
obscure reason, I forgot to do the same with the text edition of my newsletter.

About two weeks ago (just before I attended the FTC's Email Authentication 
Summit, coincidentally), I had my text mailing rejected for every single 
subscriber I have with an AOL email address. When I call them to find out 
why that had happened, we figured out between us that using my web host's 
Sendmail program instead of the STMP connection (which meant they couldn't 
check the SPF record) was probably what had caused it to be blocked.

Sure enough, during the Summit AOL's Carl Hutzler did mention that his 
company was already checking incoming for SPF records and making filtering 
decisions partially on that basis. Interesting, wot?

Cheers!

Dawn Rivers Baker
2003 Small Business Journalist of the Year
Syracuse (NY) District, U.S. Small Business Administration

Editor-in-Chief
The MicroEnterprise Journal
http://www.microenterprisejournal.com
Where the nation's business meets microbusiness.
P.O. Box 41
Sidney, NY 13838
607-428-0521