iCloud server blocking Earthlink forwarded emails

Thank you. Things seem to be working again.

As far as I can tell, Earthlink does not support IMAP. That is to say, there is no IMAP email server for Earthlink, only POP. Therefore, one cannot keep mail synchronized on Earthlink's servers and various devices (home compouter, iPad, iPhone, etc.), such that deleting an email on one device will delete it everywhere. Earthlink is just too archaic to have IMAP, and probably too cheap to ever implement it.

Interesting. I have researched the potential for IMAP on Earthlink for years (most recently today, when I spoke with Earthlink tech support) and have always come up with the same answer to the question, "Do you support IMAP?". "No" has always been the reply. I have gone as far as trying various settings on my email client that would be proper for IMAP (including the ones you listed), but alas, they do not work.

I do not know much about the unhosted domain you are referencing, but I wonder if the server on which your domain is hosted is running a mail server client (e.g., sendmail) that is actually performing the IMAP protocol. If that is the case, then I doubt it would work for an earthlink.net email account, which is hosted in Earthlink's mail server. In any event, I am glad that it is working for you.

Thanks.

Indeed. But it would have been a bit more deserved if they addressed the issue when I first called them on Friday and spent almost two hours of time trying to convince them that there was a problem that they needed to address. Their response was that they would report it to their Level 2 support staff, who don't work on weekends. Go figure.

Well, at least it's working now...

Part of the difficulty in getting this issue resolved in a timely manner relates to the nebulous nature of determining who was at fault. Technically speaking, it wasn't Earthlink and it wasn't Apple, but each contributed a little. The real souce of the problem had to do with a company called Proofpoint, whose filtering software blocks emails originating from various IP addresses, based on data it assimilates that suggests that the IP addresses in question are responsible for undesirable email, such as spam. Various companies employ or subscribe to such services with the expectation that the filtering software will minimize the volume of spam propagating through their servers and annoying their customers. Unfortunately, Proofpoint added some of Earthlink's IP addresses to the "blacklist" of IP addresses, probably because some spam actually did originate from them by an Earthlink subscriber, or possible a hacker. However, the IP addresses blacklisted by Proofpoint are used by anyone forwarding their email from Earthlink, not just the spammer(s). Once the IP's were blacklisted, Apple's email servers merely rejected them, causing them to bounce.

In speaking with Earthlink, they said it wasn't their fault, since they were forwarding the emails as intended. And that's correct. However, Earthlink probably did contribute to having their IP addresses blacklisted by permitting their servers to be used for spam in the first place. So, they get part of the blame.

In speaking with Apple, they claimed that it wasn't their fault, since they were merely relying on the blacklist information and filtering service sponsored by Proofpoint. Of course, if there were more on top of things, they would realize that Proofpoint was unselectively blacklisting IP addresses that affect many more people than the original spammers (this is not the first time that Proofpoint has done this, mind you) and either insist of Proofpoint more selectively narrowing the blocking or finding another content filtering service. So, Apple gets part of the blame.

The most proper way to deal with the issues is to let Proofpoint know that they are inappropriately blocking legitimate users' emails. This can be done by telling them the specifics of the emails that get bounced, including the sending IP address and the sender and recipient email addresses. In fact, this is what I did (as did others), and it eventually got resolved today. Unfortunately, I guess, these companies run in slow motion over the weekend. Ultimately, Proofpoint gets the most blame, and they should be much more responsible in their blacklisting methods. If Apple were to nix them, I suspect they would have incentive to clean up their act. Too many people depend on email, sometimes for life and death matters (e.g., I am in the medical field), and to indiscrimately block thousands of people without regard to the consequences is incredibly callous and unresponsible.

Anyhow, I'm glad we're all back to baseline! Despite the occassional difficulties and frustrations, email still beats the telegram!