Help beautify ugly heuristic code

[Stuart D. Gathman]

On Fri, 10 Dec 2004 22:03:20 +0000, JanC wrote:

> Stuart D. Gathman schreef:
> 
>> I have a function that recognizes PTR records for dynamic IPs.  There

> Did you also think about ISPs that use such a PTR record for both dynamic 
> and fixed IPs?

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about this.  I am not blocking
anyones mail because they have a dynamic looking PTR.  I simply don't
accept such a PTR as MTA authentication.  You see, MTAs *SHOULD* provide a
fully qualified domain as their HELO name which resolves to the IP of the
MTA.  Sadly, however, many internet facing MTAs don't do this, but I
accept a meaningful PTR as a substitute.  I also waive the requirement for
MTA authentication if the MAIL FROM has an SPF record
(http://spf.pobox.com).

So, if your MTA complies with RFC HELO recommendations, you'll have no
trouble sending me mail. You can even use a dynamic IP with a dynamic DNS
service.

I 'do* block PTR names of "." or "localhost".  I would like to block all
single word HELO names - but there are too many clueless mail admins out
there.  People seem to be unsure of what to send for HELO.

-- 
	      Stuart D. Gathman <stuart at bmsi.com>
Business Management Systems Inc.  Phone: 703 591-0911 Fax: 703 591-6154
"Confutatis maledictis, flamis acribus addictis" - background song for
a Microsoft sponsored "Where do you want to go from here?" commercial.