Why you might ask? Well here is the scenario in a nutshell. AOL has strict spam policies. Because of these policies, they block large chunks of IP addresses merely based on the service provider. Even though we have a business class internet connection on dedicated lines with managed servers, AOL has found it in their great wisdom to ban all emails sent from our servers merely because other people using the same ISP have sent mass email messages before. Our service provider does not condone or allow this, but even sending a single email to one person who reports it to AOL using their nice 'one click' spam report system will get your server, along with all others in your IP block banned.

We contacted AOL multiple times, and after days of wrangling with them on the phone had them re-instate our IP block, only to have it blocked again just days later.

We are not alone. Mailing lists, legitimate emails from schools and universities, email from users workplace, and valid op-in lists such as ours are being blocks by AOL and there are articles about it all over the web.

So what can you do? Setup a FREE email account with Hotmail, Yahoo, or Google gmail. All three provide spam protection that works very well and will not effect your mailing lists or other important emails.

Hope this little primer explains why we can't put AOL users on our list, but also we hope this will open the eyes of any AOL users out there. Break out of the hold of AOL and use your email as it was intended to be used! Don't let some corporate entity dictate what you can and cannot receive because they are too cheap or lazy to institute real spam protection like you find at Hotmail, Yahoo, or Google Gmail.

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