Congratulations to all. I had not realized it, but according to the email below we have exceeded 230,000 members. I must pay more attention to membership numbers in the future. 73 Joel W5ZN -----Original Message----- From: wa5ybc [mailto:wa5ybc@earthlink.net] Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 8:07 PM To: w6rod@arrl.net; wa6wzo@arrl.net; n3kn@arrl.net; w5zn@arrl.net; w5jbp@arrl.net; abuse@abuse.earthlink.net Subject: : Earthlink and arrl.net mail I am a member a ARRL and been a member for over 20 yrs . Earthlink, do not want me to rethink your Service, because if I have to pick web Service are ARRL .I will keep my ARRL and take out your sevice. It will not be Earthlink DSL with ARRL saiding that 2600 member will not get ARRL E-MAIL . YOU NEED TO DO THE MAT ( 2600 x $ 42.00 = $109200.00 PER MONTH WIIL BE A LOT OF MONEY ) You need to rethink ARRL member forwarded system . Arrl has over 230,000 Hams as member can you turn down All that with out doing a lots think about it. If earthlink will not work this out, look like AOL is going in soon. I all so sending to all on my E-mail list ( HAMS) so they will not get Earthlink AS long as we will not get any E-MAIL forward to them.I hope Earthlink works this out soon . ----- Original Message ----- From: "Shelly, Barry, N1VXY" <bshelley@arrl.org> To: <wa5ybc@earthlink.net> Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 1:16 PM Subject: Earthlink and arrl.net mail

We are sending this to you because you are an ARRL member who is having e-mail forwarded through the arrl.net system to an e-mail address at Earthlink.

The following is the draft of a story that is being posted today to the ARRL web site. As an Earthlink subscriber, it affects you directly as Earthlink will no longer accept e-mail traffic from arrl.net. In their efforts to fight spam on the Internet, and using their own internal analyses, they have identified the arrl.net as a "spam source" and therefore, are blocking all messages including valid e-mail that you want to receive.

We have tried to discuss the situation with Earthlink but they refuse to change their position. They understand that the spam doesn't originate with arrl.net but are pushing the problem back upstream for someone else to resolve. This is despite the fact that they have what they claim to be effective spam filters on their computers and offer this service to their customers.

In responses to some ARRL members, they have also alleged that the arrl.net is an "open relay" which is patently untrue. We have the e-mail forwarding server configured specifically so it is not an "open relay" which is more susceptible to being used to introduce spam into the Internet.

We will continue to try and resolve the situation with Earthlink but an immediate resolution is unlikely. If you would like to continue to receive mail through arrl.net to your Earthlink account, I would suggest you contact Earthlink directly as well. They may be more willing to listen to 2,600 customers than they are to listen to the ARRL.

If you have any questions I will try and answer them but I must ask in advance for you patience as I will not be able to answer e-mails from 2,600 members all at once.

Again, we will continue in our efforts to resolve the matter with Earthlink and will post any changes in the situation to the ARRL web page as they occur.

73, Barry Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer ARRL, Inc.

Earthlink Still Delaying arrll.net e-mail

Despite several discussions with representatives of Earthlink and changing stories from them on why they have instituted this action, Earthlink continues to delay messages being forwarded from arrl.net to earthlink.net addresses. As a result of Earthlink's actions, ARRL cannot guarantee that messages forwarded from arrl.net to members' e-mail addresses at Earthlink will be delivered.

At the root of the issue, is Earthlink's contention that the arrl.net domain is a spam source based on their internal standards and analysis. While they understand the concept of a simple mail forwarding system like arrl.net, and admit that the spam is not originating from it, they maintain their position that blocking all messages, including valid e-mail, from this domain is an effective tactic in their efforts to fight spam on the Internet. Earthlink has told ARRL staff that they will continue to delay messages until the amount of spam being sent through this system is reduced to a level they deem acceptable.

Although we are attempting to contact the appropriate authorities at Earthlink, the situation is currently at an impasse. We understand and appreciate the inconvenience this represents to ARRL members. Other large national ISPs have dealt with this specific issue in a much more reasonable fashion once we were able to contact them and explain the situation. Those ISPs as well as hundreds of other smaller ones are accepting forwarded mail from arrl.net. Earthlink, however, is not.

If you are one of the members affected by Earthlink's actions and have another e-mail account with a different ISP, you can change your e-mail address where your arrl.net is forwarded. This can be done through the Member Data page on the ARRL Members' Only Web site. Changes to this information is delivered automatically twice daily so it may take several hours for the change to take effect.

You may also want to contact Earthlink individually if you do not agree with their policies and tactics in this situation. E-mail can be sent to abuse@abuse.earthlink.net.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and we will continue to try and resolve the situation with Earthlink.