Re: Spamhaus vs. Cloudflare

[Tom Beecher via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>]

> It's your choice to obey the Spamhaus DROP list or not. If they are
> blocking things you want to talk to, that's a good indication you should
> ignore the DROP list.


This.

Your network's needs will not always align perfectly with the reasons a 3rd
party added something to a block list. If you're going to use these things,
you can't just take them blindly and not have the ability to modify for
your own reasons.

On Fri, Sep 18, 2026 at 1:22 PM Kevin Tillery via NANOG <
nanog () lists nanog org> wrote:

> It's your choice to obey the Spamhaus DROP list or not. If they are
> blocking things you want to talk to, that's a good indication you should
> ignore the DROP list.
>
> If a third party is blocking things you want to talk to based on this
> list, you'd have to talk to that third party. You are free to also talk
> to Spamhaus, but they're very stubborn.
>
> This isn't the only incident with Spamhaus listing things that should
> not be listed, and it isn't the only incident of someone attacking
> Cloudflare as a whole (see: Italy, Spain...).
>
> "Might makes right" refers to people using the list versus ignoring it.
> Obviously nobody but Spamhaus controls the Spamhaus list. And nobody
> but, say, Telstra, controls whether Telstra is blocking packets to
> destinations on the list. Telstra's customers may or may not have a
> cause of legal action if they want to communicate with someone on the
> list and Telstra refuses to unblock them. If /you/ have contractual
> obligations requiring you to honour the list, well... maybe obey the
> list for those customers only, and make it their problem.
>
>
>
> On 17/09/2026 22:35, Seth Mattinen via NANOG wrote:
> > Cloudflare has IP ranges all the way up on the Spamhaus DROP list.
> > Cloudflare says they cannot control this.
> >
> > 172.70.206.0/23 (Spamhaus SBL687772) 512 addresses
> > 172.70.214.0/23 (Spamhaus SBL687314) 512 addresses
> >
> > Is Cloudflare in a "might makes right" position, or should someone be
> > working to resolve the issues causing the SBL?
> >
> > ~Seth
> > _______________________________________________
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