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-
- *** The Free Ride is Over! ***
- =====================
-
- Effective March 1, 1996, the Internet Gateway at 1:1/31 has been
- *CLOSED*!!! There is NO MORE "default" gateway for E-Mail coming
- INbound from the Internet for Zone-1.
-
- The reasons for this termination of service are numerous ...
-
- o Most recently, an excommunicated SysOp has gone on a rampage of
- forging subscription messages to subscribe numerous FidoNet addresses
- to numerous unwanted Internet mailing-lists in a deliberate attempt
- to "break" the FidoNet routing structure and the gateway structure.
- Many of the other gateways have already shut down operations.
-
- o Many of the *C routing systems have taken it upon themselves to
- either "bounce" (many doing it improperly addressed) or to
- deliberately "bit-bucket" NetMail coming from the gateway.
- I can no longer deal with the voluminous NetMail being received
- from End-Nodes querying what has happened to their inbound E-Mail
- coming thru the gateway.
-
- o The gateways systems and the "f###.n###.z#.fidonet.org" address
- syntax was designed for "casual mail", not for subscribing to
- massive mailing-lists and such. Many people have found ways to
- deliberately by-pass the controls at the gateways and subscribe
- to mailing-lists, forcing the inbound traffic to route in thru
- the gateways and clogging up the FidoNet routing structures.
- These days, it is fairly easy and inexpensive to get an account
- with any of the many Internet Service Providers thoughout the
- country. Those that really need to subscribe to mailing-lists
- should go that route.
-
- o The original intent of setting up the .fidonet.org domain was to
- have gateways situated geographically close to the Nodes they
- serve so that the load would be distributed and routing problems
- on the FidoNet side would be reduced.
- As of this writing, there are only 34 Nets out of the 431 Nets
- in Zone-1 which have their INbound E-Mail coming in via gateways
- other than the "default" gateway. The existing gateway operators
- and gateway software authors have always been willing to help
- a new gateway with their setup. The *Cs at the Net level just
- haven't done their part to strive for getting local gateways in
- place in their Nets. It just doesn't seem fair to me to keep
- relying on ONE gateway and the Backbone routing structure to handle
- over 90% of the Zone's traffic, does it?
-
- o People have been writing software which does NOT conform to
- proper addressing specs which have severly impacted operations
- of the gateway without even consulting me or even letting me
- know that their programs exist.
-
- o I find that I no longer have the time nor inclination to keep
- supporting a gateway where folks continue to break the rules
- of its use and bypass the controls.
- FidoNet in general has taken this service for granted for far too
- long. People seem to feel that Free use of Internet E-Mail is
- something they get automatically when they are granted a Node Number
- in FidoNet.
-
- o The I.E.E.E., the organization who has been providing the resources
- and bandwidth for the flow of all this traffic can no longer
- support the endeavor.
-
-
- Some services *will* CONTINUE to be provided ...
-
- o The Domain-Name-Service, which tells the Internet world where to
- send traffic for destinations within the .fidonet.org domain
- (and which defines which addresses are 'valid') will continue
- to be operated. However, the "default MX-record" which sent
- all undefined traffic for those Nets which did not otherwise have
- another gateway declared, will be DELETED!
-
- o We will continue to operate the gateway at 1:13/10 (our other
- gateway address) on a REGISTERED-ONLY basis. This means that
- there will be a process whereby INDIVIDUAL Zone-1 Nodes will be
- able to Register to use the gateway and have an Internet address
- assigned. Incoming E-Mail for all REGISTERED systems will be
- packed on HOLD and must be picked up by direct Poll.
- NOTHING will be routed via the Backbone (except Bounces back
- to UNregistered Nodes).
- (Please see instructions below for Registering to use 1:13/10)
-
-
- How to Register to use the Gateway at 1:13/10
- ---------------------------------------------
-
- To register your system to use the gateway services at 1:13/10,
- simply send a File-Request for REGISTER to 1:13/10.
- This will pass your Primary address into a function process that will
- dynamically re-configure the related configuration files and routing
- during the next hourly update process. After that, you should be able
- to use the gateway and any E-Mail coming INbound from the Internet will
- be packed on *HOLD* at 1:13/10 for your system to pickup.
-
- Point systems may NOT register and may NOT use this gateway.
-
- Note that your system is assigned a special address, which is *NOT*
- in the old 'f###.n###.z#.fidonet.org' syntax.
-
- After March 1st, any addresses of that format which do NOT have a
- specific MX-record assigned for that Net's traffic to send it to
- another gateway will NO LONGER BE VALID and will BOUNCE on the
- Internet side.
-
- Do NOT advertise your address in that format as it will NOT be valid
- after the March 1st cutoff.
-
- When you send mail to the Internet, REGISTERed systems *will* have the
- correct return-address in the headers. Also, a standard ".signature"
- block will be added to the end of your messages showing your Full Name
- and FidoNet address and your correct Internet return-address.
-
- At this time, I do NOT want to mass-advertise what the format of the
- NEW addresses are because of the recent actions of certain individuals.
-
-
- Burt Juda
- Postmaster/Hostmaster
-
-
-