Attn. "Helmut Schneider" <jumper99@gmx.de>

[Matthias Andree]

As I can inject my message directly to GMX, I'm Cc'ing Helmut Schneider.

Ion-Mihai "IOnut" Tetcu <itetcu at freebsd.org> writes:

> gmx.de stupidly blocks mails from guys with @freebsd.org emails :)
>
>  freebsd.org descriptive text "v=spf1 ip4:216.136.204.119 ~all"
> means that listed ip is _NOT_ the only one legitimate SMTP server for freebsd.org.
>
> This last shit is nothing new as, in my experience, gmx.de is one of the
> worse administered email servers. You might want to change your email
> address to some other service, with at least half-competent admins.

Wrong- the downstream is free to decide what to make of SPF information.

GMX are responsive compared to other freemailers such as web.de which
are utter crap.

GMX allow the user to configure which "Spamschutz" (literally "spam
protection") settings he wishes to employ, but there are some issues:

 * GMX try to persuade users to go with "the GMX recommended
   settings", which is "all filters on".

 * Some filter settings (all are configured through a web interface)
   require JavaScript.

 * GMX have split their filters into seven categories, but merged several
   services into the same option:

   1 The "Spamserver-Blocker" is actually an SPF implementation, accompanied
     by a GMX internal list. Unfortunately, SPF is inseparable from the
     GMX internal list of SPF policies (AOL, Hotmail and stuff).

     HELMUT - the best bet is probably to  disable the
     Spamserver-Blocker. (You need to personalize your Spamschutz settings)

   2 The "Globale Antispam-Liste" is a mixture of:
     a - a blacklist of known spam sites (it's unclear how this overlaps
         with the "GMX Team Antispam-Liste"
     b - an open relay blocker
     c - a dialup blocker
     d - a blocker for SMTP servers whose IP cannot be resolved via DNS
         PTR records.
     
This is all documented behind the "Hilfe" popups (Hilfe = help), only
users need to be made aware of such, and they never see these options
when using the GMX standard settings.

For those who can read German, the full documentation is at
<http://faq.gmx.de/optionen/email/antispam/index.html>

An English translation of who can send to GMX.de is at
<http://faq.gmx.de/optionen/email/antispam/4.html>

> <jumper99 at gmx.de>: host mx0.gmx.net[213.165.64.100] said: 550-5.7.1 {mx021} The
>     recipient does not accept mails from 'FreeBSD.org' over foreign
>     mailservers. 550-5.7.1 According to the domain's SPF record your host
>     '81.196.204.98' is not a designated sender. 550 5.7.1 (
>     http://www.gmx.net/serverrules ) (in reply to RCPT TO command)

And this looks like the "Spamserver-Blocker" in action.

Personally, I have both The Spamserver Blocker and currently also the
Global Antispam list off. I might turn the latter back on some day
though, if traffic becomes too much to handle for after-the-fact
filtering.

HTH,

-- 
Matthias Andree