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DNS Block Listing (DNSBL)

What is it?

There are a lot of viruses, trojans, and mis-configured computers on the Internet these days. Attackers use them to get to AfterNET for spamming, flooding, and evading bans. Because of this, AfterNET implements RBL, or Realtime Black List checking, and requires users from suspicious IP's to login before using AfterNET.

How does it work?

Every person connecting to AfterNET is checked against our list of DNS blacklists. These lists are maintained by different groups to help stop spam and IRC abuse. They have various mechanisms for finding and reporting hosts which have insecure proxies, trojan horses, or are otherwise allowing abuse.

It's Okay!

It's OK, we know; it probably wasn't you. It was probably someone at your Internet address before you. There is an easy way to solve it, keep reading.

For many people, addresses are dynamically allocated every time they connect to the Internet, so sometimes listings are wrong and out-dated. Most RBLs allow you or your ISP to request a retest and removal from their list, but don't worry about that, you should just Login on Connect to bypass the scan. The use of these lists has drastically decreased the ability of miscreants to spam and flood on AfterNET; however, some people with dynamic IP addresses will get frequent false positives as spammers use their IP before them, so they need to log in to use AfterNET reliably.

What to do if you are listed

If you are prompted for your AuthServ password because your host is listed in an RBL, don't fear. You can still get on AfterNET by following these directions:

  1. ) You can whitelist yourself using our DNSBL Exemption Form
  2. ) SASL or Login-on-connect - Setup Login-on-Connect to be automatically exempt from any RBL scanning in the future. Get an account and Click here for instructions setting up login-on-connect.
  3. ) You could alternately complain to your Internet service provider and inform them of the problem. Click here to see what RBLs you may be listed in. We realize you may be stuck with a provider who, due to lazy business practices, cannot be removed from an RBL, but you should complain anyway, maybe some day they will “get it”.
  4. ) If the above doesn't work for you, use the 'Contact Us' link in the menu. Please include a copy of the message you see when trying to connect, your IP address, your e-mail address, and a detailed description of the problem.

Sorry!

We apologize for the inconvenience, we understand that the use of the RBLs will cause some people a little bit of extra work connecting to AfterNET, but we hope that the trade off of less spam and abuse makes it worth while. Please don't be discouraged, we will make every effort to allow legitimate users access to AfterNET. If the above doesn't work for you for some reason, let us know why and we'll work with you to find a solution.

Technical Details

You can check the http://www.anti-abuse.org/multi-rbl-check-results/ site to query all major RBLs at once for your host.