Problem reaching www.msu.edu from China
01/20/2005
[Editor's note, 2/24/05: It appears that China is no longer blocking access to www.msu.edu. However, because blocks may occur at the border or at the ISP, we cannot assure that access is uniformly open.]
Updated 1/25/05
The week of January 17, 2005 we received reports that China is blocking access to MSU’s main Web presence, www.msu.edu. We were able to confirm that computers in China cannot connect to www.msu.edu; connection attempts are blocked at that country’s border. We are not aware of any other MSU Web sites that currently are being blocked; however, any content that depends on links from www.msu.edu is affected.
MSU units that operate programs in China, or have travelers in China, should be aware of this situation, as should any units with programs that depend upon the ability of participants or potential participants in China to access MSU Web space.
We will monitor this situation and provide updates on computing.msu.edu as events unfold. We also are investigating what formal processes to pursue to request a release of the block. In researching this situation we have learned from various sources that:
A. From time to time, China — and perhaps other countries — may block access to certain Web sites.
B. The blocking may be done at various levels. In this case, the blocking appears to be based on the destination IP address. For instance, www.msu.edu is currently assigned the IP address of 35.8.10.26. Attempts to connect to that IP address from within China are blocked; however, MSU Web sites hosted at other addresses are not currently blocked. You can help people in China access your content by publishing specific URLs for each content area. For instance, direct visitors to finaid.msu.edu (Office of Financial Aid), admissions.msu.edu, etc.
C. Web content may be a cause for the block. MSU offers a very large, diverse and open Web publishing environment, so we may always be subject to this possibility.
Here are some relevant links:
- “Duke website back in China” Duke Chronicle, January 16, 2004
- “China Blocks MIT Web Addresses” MIT Tech News, November 22, 2002
- Internet Filtering Study, Berkman Center for Law and Society, Harvard Law School
Please continue to check computing.msu.edu for more information and for updates.
America Online Anti-Spam System May Block Mail from mail.msu.edu
01/12/2005
America Online Anti-Spam System Inhibits Legitimate Mail from mail.msu.edu
From time to time, MSU users discover that e-mail that they send or forward to America Online (”AOL”) addresses is not delivered. If this happens to you, AOL’s anti-spam system may be the culprit.
America Online uses robotic mechanisms to determine if an Internet mail server is a source of unsolicited commercial e-mail, commonly known as “spam.” Some members of the Michigan State University community choose to forward all of their mail from MSU’s e-mail system, mail.msu.edu, to AOL. Because a large percentage of e-mail sent to MSU users is spam – and thus a large percentage of forwarded mail is spam – AOL’s robots will, from time to time, falsely identify one of MSU’s mail servers as an originating spam source. AOL then blocks mail from the relevant mail.msu.edu server. When this occurs, any user who happens to use that server to send to AOL will find that their mail is bouncing.
AOL’s robots measure the rate of spam from other mail servers and decide to block a given server autonomously. A given mail.msu.edu server may be able to forward to AOL one minute, and be blocked by AOL the next minute. AOL does nothing to notify MSU when a blockage begins, or when it ends. Whether or not mail is delivered to the aol.com address is purely the decision of AOL’s robots.
The MSU mail team has contacted AOL multiple times about this issue, so far without a satisfactory response. The mail team is exploring technical alternatives; however, there is no obvious simple solution. Until the problem is resolved, anyone who sends or forwards mail from mail.msu.edu to AOL addresses faces the possibility of intermittent interruptions in delivery of their e-mail.
AOL publishes its e-mail policies at http://postmaster.aol.com.
