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Date:	Sun, 16 Sep 2001 00:36:36 PDT
From:	Peter Skye <pskye@peterskye.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: email forwarding?

Content Type: text/plain

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Ray Davison wrote:
>
> Does anyone know of a service that will
> intercept email addressed to an inactive
> address and forward it to an active address?

Quick answer: There's a service called MailShell -
http://www.mailshell.com/ - which might do *exactly* what you want.
_____

Now the long answer:

It depends on what you mean by "inactive address". :)

The address has to be registered so the Domain Name Servers can find
it. Once it's registered, you need a server somewhere that will accept
the email addressed to that domain.

Here's how it works: When you send an email it goes to a server,
usually either at your ISP or one that you're running yourself. The
server then looks at the "To:" field and goes to the DNS to get the
dotted-decimal address that it's supposed to use. For example, "To:
TheDuck@scoug.com" causes the server to look up scoug.com's
dotted-decimal address for email which is 216.184.211.35 and the message
is then sent to the SMTP email server at 216.184.211.35. (Mail
Exchanger "MX" records are stored by the DNS and point to the
appropriate email server.)

So, if you have a registered domain (for example, RayDavison.com) but
you don't have an email server to accept mail to that domain, you need
to ask an ISP to "host" your email account (or set up your own server).

If you want to use a domain name which isn't registered, such as
DavisonForPresident.com, sorry, the DNS won't know what to do with email
to that address. You first have to register it. (Use TUCOWS to
register, it's cheap and people seem happy with it.)

I pay a small local ISP $18 a month to host my email domains.
Technically here's how my setup works: I have an email account at the
ISP (pskye@1stnetusa.com) and they redirect all the incoming email which
is addressed to my domains (peterskye.com, losangmeth.com, etc.) over to
that account. I have "unlimited" names for each of my domains because
the ISP doesn't care, they just redirect _all_ of the incoming email to
my main account. Thus, you can send email to me at pskye@peterskye.com,
peterskye@peterskye.com, idiot@peterskye.com, financial@losangmeth.com
etc. and it will all be redirected to my main account. When I click on
"Get Mail" *all* of the email arrives as one big batch, it's not
separated, but I can still filter on the original "To:" field because
the header isn't changed, so when I receive my email my filters can
separate it again. Except for the spam messages which don't have
complete headers.

I'm not exactly sure what you want to do so ask your question again. Do
you want to know what to tell the ISP? Do you want to know how to
filter the messages so they're separated into distinct "To:" addresses?
Are you looking for the cheapest service? Are you trying to redirect
incoming faxes? Are you concerned with port blocking for outgoing email
that doesn't contain your ISP's domain? Do you want to know how to set
up different "personalities" so you can choose your "From:" address? Do
you care what the domain is, i.e. do you want to use Yahoo! mail or
HotMail and redirect the messages to your "normal" Inbox?

Here's your intlaccess.com MX info:

[G:\]nslookup
Default Server: rns1.earthlink.net
Address: 207.217.126.81
> set type=mx
> intlaccess.com
Server: rns1.earthlink.net
Address: 207.217.126.81
Non-authoritative answer:
intlaccess.com preference = 10, mail exchanger = intlaccess.com
Authoritative answers can be found from:
intlaccess.com nameserver = NS1.intlaccess.com
intlaccess.com nameserver = NS2.intlaccess.com
intlaccess.com internet address = 4.22.118.3
NS1.intlaccess.com internet address = 4.22.118.3
NS2.intlaccess.com internet address = 4.22.118.4

IntlAccess.com may have "email-only" accounts which you can use for your
other registered domains.

- Peter

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