After getting some advice from the list - specifically Mark - last week, I asked the hosting provider if there was in fact some limit on outgoing mail, or some other setting on their end which might be causing the bounces I'm getting. (see previous post for details, but basically, I set up a new mailman list with around 1300 subscribers and as best I could tell - without going through ALL of them one by one - most bounced. I did sample 30 addresses, of which 29 bounced).
Below is the response from the host. They seem to feel it's all on the recipient's end. Does this make sense? or is it passing the buck? They suggest sending out 10-15 emails at a time - is there a way to set mailman up to do this? (and would there be a point?) Thanks again for your help. Nathan > There is really no cap as to how many emails you can send out. > However, the more you send out at one time the more likelly they are > to bounce. It has nothing to do with Globaltap, it has alot to do with > the servers that are recieving the email. There is a marker in the > email that marks it as bulk. Most servers including Globaltaps often > rejects those emails to protect their/our customers from spam. Comcast > and aol also do the same thing. For the most part most mail servers > use the same filters and black lists. So the more mail you send out at > one time the more likelly that most of them will get rejected by > recieving server and bounce. It also creates a possiblity that an > entire ip block will get black listed. Which means that ALL your mail > will get rejected, but also ALL other of our customers on the same ip > block as you will get black listed as well. > I'm sure you have a valid subscriber list, but the recieving server > has no way of knowing that. For all they know you're just another guy > peddling viagra. OK, there are options. 1. You can set up to send out > no more then 10-15 emails at a time. 2. There is an organization that > can certify your email as not spam. The ceritification is inserted in > to the header of your email and then the bulk delivery should get > accepted by most other servers, but still not all. And the > cerification isn't free. > > Most hosting services frown on people who send out large bulk emails. > It tends to cause problems for other customers and it takes alot of > time to clean up the mess plus explain to other customers why they are > not able to send mail for upto a week. > In those cases you could be held liable for the "clean up" and loss of > revenue. > ------------------------------------------------------ Mailman-Users mailing list Mailman-Users@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-users Mailman FAQ: http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/faqw-mm.py Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users%40python.org/ Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/mailman-users/archive%40jab.org Security Policy: http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/faqw-mm.py?req=show&file=faq01.027.htp