Getting off of a RBL
RBL (Real-time black lists) are very effective spam blocking mechanism. However, like any spam prevention solution, it is far from perfect and legitimate email can be blocked as well. An RBL is a list of IP addresses that an email server will not accept email from. This is very effective as a spam blocking mechanism but can also be an issue for small businesses that have internal email servers since they often, through no fault of their own, are included on the RBL lists. With the rise of spam originating from spyware and virus infected home PCs, RBLs almost always block email if it is sent directly from an IP address “known” to be a residential broadband range. This is terrific concept except it is a huge under taking to maintain an accurate list of residential broadband IP addresses. RBLs are also know to add large ranges of IP addresses to their list if they detect spam activity from a single IP address within that range. And unfortunately, the consensus attitude of the organizations that maintain most RBLs is “your were blocked for a reason, prove to us that you don’t send spam, we then might unblock you if we believe you.”
If you can’t tell from my tone, I don’t agree with this approach for preventing spam. If you are in a position to decide to use a RBL to block spam, please thoroughly research the various solutions and use one that has a mechanism for legitimate users to easily get themselves removed from the list. There are some lists that charge a fee to be removed from their list (highly suspect!).
Here are some online tools that will check to see if your server is listed on an RBL
http://www.dnsstuff.com
http://www.robtex.com/rbl
Here’s a link to get removed from AT&T’s RBL
http://worldnet.att.net/general-info/bls_info/block_inquiry.html
And you need it, here’s a phone number for AT&T abuse department (to use if their online system doesn’t get you removed)
1-800-648-1626 option 1