Telstra to offer rural Australia free e-mail

[Ross Johnson]

Bernard Robertson-Dunn <brd@dynamite.com.au> wrote on 15/10/98 11:53 AM:

> However, there are limits. In a move to encourage users to dial in
> as often as possible, Telstra plans to limit users' mailboxes to 10
> items each. Anyone sending an e-mail to an easymail user whose box
> is full will get a "friendly" message telling them the mailbox is
> too full, said the manager of Internet Services Enablers at Telstra,
> Mr Tony Richardson.

This could just be the language used by business when they want to send
messages to the regulators. 

If not, then ...

I don't want to be getting a "friendly" email message telling me that ten
other people got to the easymail user before me "so try again later
please". Those return messages will cost *me* money.  (Stuff all really,
but it's the principle, not to mention that most of that money, multiplied
a million times, ends up going to Telstra in the end anyway).

Senario 1:
One easymail user tries to email ten other easymail users who's mailboxes
are full, their own mailbox fills up with ten of these "friendly"
messages. Anywhere else, that would constitute a "Denial of Service" 
attack on the user.

One must assume that Telstra will not include those messages in the
easymail quota, lest mail storms and protest storms result.

Senario 2:
An easymail user subscribes to a mailing list. BANG! The first ten
messages arrive for them and thereafter the list maintainer (Tony, are you
listening?) starts to get loads of these "friendly" replies.

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