May valid and working email address comes back with:
"is_reachable": "unknown"
Check If Email Exists
231–240 of 260 posts
Re: Check If Email Exists
#232On your site ( https://reacher.email ) it shows "Open-Source" next to the MIT logo. To any reasonable person, that means "it's licensed under the MIT license". Instead, it's licensed under the AGPL. It would be good if you changed it to remove the implication that it was MIT licensed.
Uh, what? "Open source" doesn't mean "MIT" any more than "vehicle" means "truck"…
I don't even think the OSI classifies AGPL as an Open Source license, does it. Open Source is Free Software, but that's because it can be relicensed to anything as long as its attribution requirements are held to. Free Software licenses are restrictive (to preserve the access of the user to the software they use.)
Re: Check If Email Exists
#233The SMTP way of checking if an email exists is on the wrong side of CANSPAM, beginning the sending process to check an address is specifically addressed. And this assumes you didn't systematically "guess" the address.
CAN-SPAM regulates "sending electronic mail messages". Connecting to an SMTP server to ask it if an address exists doesn't sound like that to me, but IANAL.
The act uses defines the word "initiate" and the SMTP only allows "asking if an address exists" via initiating a send (and then dropping the connection before a message is sent).
Re: Check If Email Exists
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
majority of mail servers do not support VRFY command, that is why the generic method of checking mail box is trying to send message (via MAIL FROM + RCPT TO) and breaking the sending halfway through
Okay, but that still sounds to me like taking an overly technical view. I doubt the courts will consider it sending an email if an email isn't received.
The law defines the word "initiate".
Re: Check If Email Exists
#235The SMTP way of checking if an email exists is on the wrong side of CANSPAM, beginning the sending process to check an address is specifically addressed. And this assumes you didn't systematically "guess" the address.
Where do you see this in the law? I just skimmed through it, and I'm not seeing where it's addressed?
Search for "initiate", "headers", "open mail relays"; In addition to the law the FCC has additional legal guidance available.
Re: Check If Email Exists
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
CAN-SPAM regulates "sending electronic mail messages". Connecting to an SMTP server to ask it if an address exists doesn't sound like that to me, but IANAL.
The act uses defines the word "initiate" and the SMTP only allows "asking if an address exists" via initiating a send (and then dropping the connection before a message is sent).
The act does define the word initiate, but it defines it to mean what the person who originally sends a message does so they can exempt relays. It's not originating or transmitting a message if you break off the connection before a message is fully transmitted.
> The term "initiate", when used with respect to a commercial electronic mail message, means to originate or transmit such message or to procure the origination or transmission of such message, but shall not include actionsthat constitute routine conveyance of such message.
I also don't think (but with less certainty) that what isn't fully sent counts as a message, as the primary purpose is verifying if the address exists. Message is defined as
> any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or pro-motion of a commercial product or service
Re: Check If Email Exists
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where do you see this in the law? I just skimmed through it, and I'm not seeing where it's addressed?
Search for "initiate", "headers", "open mail relays"; In addition to the law the FCC has additional legal guidance available.
If you do this search you'll see that the text of the act doesn't support what smileysteve says. See my other comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27713089
Re: Check If Email Exists
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
I bought a new car a few years ago and I was unable to enter my .life email address into the SiriusXM registration form in the car. Had to use a .com address :(
I had a similar experience with LG. You need a developer account in order to install applications on webOS TVs. I successfully registered on the LG Developer portal with something like myname+us.lgaccount.com+2021-07-01@mydomain.com, but I couldn't log in on the TV with that email address. Had to register again without the plus signs.
I had something worse(?) happen with one of my accounts for a hotel chain. I entered name+hotel@majoremail.com and they just stripped out the + leaving me with an account that I couldn't use unless I made another account at the email provider.
Re: Check If Email Exists
#239Just curious has anyone ever turned signups around and asked for the person to send an email instead? Something like send an email to signup@someservice.com
Then send a follow up confirmation email, no captcha required.
Re: Check If Email Exists
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
I maintain a small fee tool for creating API endpoints to trigger email alerts for yourself (varmail.me). Since it's very basic and has no marketing, it doesn't get too many users. You have to click a link in an email to even log in, but I still get bots stuffing my login form with known bad email addresses (I've googled and some of them appear in honeypot lists). There is no chance they can get in, but this is bad b…
Interesting project, maybe you need a captcha to display and weed out bots before you actually send an email.
Yes, I've considered it. The thing is I really dislike captchas so I tried to avoid deploying one. I do have a hidden form field that gets populated with a secret value in JavaScript, so the bots must be running JS at least to function.