Having problems sending emails out of Vanuatu? Getting return error
messages saying that your email was refused or rejected as spam, or
saying something like “Remote host said: 550 host is listed in
bl.spamcop.net” ? You have become the latest victim of an RBL.
Getting listed on an RBL (Relay Blacklist) is not a good thing. This
column previously discussed the fact that a few of Telecom Vanuatu’s
dialup customers were experiencing problems sending out emails because
the IP address (the unique identifier for the internet connection) they
picked up had been added to one or more RBLs. Many ISPs (Internet
Service Providers) use the services of RBL organizations such as
SpamCop so that they can cut down the amount of spam passing through
their systems without having to administer an anti-spam system. When
the IP address you are using gets added to a blacklist and you send an
email to someone using such an ISP, your email will be rejected. No
matter what, the ISP will simply refuse to accept anything at all from
you, and the person you are emailing will not know you have tried.
Usually, getting a dialup IP address blacklisted is the fault of the
user of that IP address ie. someone with a home computer who probably
has a virus sending out lots of spam. TVL have recently announced
measures to combat this problem.
Alas, things appear to be going downhill. Now it seems that Telecom
Vanuatu’s main email-server itself, ie. the one that just about
everyone is using, has been blacklisted for allowing spam to pass
through. Even worse, it has consistently failed the automated testing
that one RBL organization, SpamCop, has been doing resulting in TVL
staff now having to personally and manually apply to have their server
removed from the list, which will not happen until TVL’s email-server
stops allowing spam. This is entirely the responsibility of TVL – their
customers can do nothing to help.
In the meantime, TVL customers who use TVL’s email-server
(mail.vanuatu.com.vu or smtp.vanuatu.com.vu) are likely to find
increasing numbers of emails being returned unseen. As the server gets
listed by more and more RBL organizations, more and more recipients
(who can be individuals, companies, or governments) will be affected,
and it will get harder and take longer to get de-listed.
If you are affected, inform TVL. Send the error message to them
(
) or phone them on 22015. This has the potential to
become a serious block to Vanuatu’s ability to communicate
electronically with the rest of the world.
