On 2018-01-06 05:42 PM, Yuval Levy wrote: > I have contacted Outlook.com Deliverability Support and will report back > to the list if the results from the interaction are of public interest.
I am still digesting the response received. In essence, they say that they "have reviewed [my] IP(s) (XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX) and determined that messages are being filtered based on the recommendations of the SmartScreen® Filter. Email filtering is based on many factors, but primarily it's due to mail content and recipient interaction with that mail. Because of the proprietary nature of SmartScreen® and because SmartScreen® Filter technology is always adapting and learning more about what is and isn't unwanted mail, it is not possible for [them] to offer specific advice about improving your mail content. However, in general SmartScreen® Filter evaluates specific words or characteristics from each e-mail message and weights them, based on their likelihood to indicate that a message is unwanted or legitimate mail." The above blurb is followed by some advice, most of it in my view irrelevant or counter-productive since directed at mass-mailed advertising, and resulting in emails that are in my view more spammy, not less: * brand your mail * highlight opt in * ensure that your email lists are up to date Is it possible that Microsoft discriminates against my emails because I do not use HTML format? That's an *allegation* I am willing to make at the right place and time. Is it possible that Microsoft discriminates against my emails because they are sent using FLOSS client software and O/S? That's another *allegation* I am willing to make at the right place and time. Is it possible that Microsoft discriminates against my emails because they show that the IP address from which the mail client sent the message to the sending MTA is dynamic/residential but there is no trace of that IP address in consumer databases because I adamantly block any attempt to track web behaviour at that IP address? Another *allegation* that I am willing to make at the right place and time. Is it possible that Microsoft discriminates against my emails because I am trying to run a law practice free from Microsoft software and I have been advocating vocally for access to legal services through software that works on more than one platform? Conspiracy theory. I will not go that far. Bottom line, I think the problem is more ethical than technical. There is nothing wrong with how my Postfix server and mail client are configured, but Microsoft decides that it does not like some nebulous characteristics of my emails on a message by message basis and (a) substitutes its algorithmic judgment for the judgment of the recipient as to what is or is not desirable email; (b) destroys such message without warning or notice to the recipient; (c) deceives the sender with the misleading statement to the sender's server that the message has been received and is queued for delivery (250) when in fact it has been zapped. I am still thinking how to react. For now I will advise my clients that I cannot communicate by email if they are using Microsoft services. Yuval Levy, JD, MBA, CFA Ontario-licensed lawyer
