"I'm sure BigPond will not be the only RBL-subscribing ISP to be bouncing Optus mail as a result".

On Razor, where we've also posted on the situation, he's asserted, "If Optus have a problem with RBL it is their responsibility to sort it out. Your attempt to colour this as a BigPond versus Optus issue is misleading and the claim that "BigPond is blocking [Optus'] efforts" is simply untrue."

Well, according to Optus tech support, Telstra has put in place a system that prevents Optus engineers from removing the blocks on the IP address range. I'd describe that as a dispute.

And maybe we should change the name Big Pond to Big Pontius, given that the statement "If Optus have a problem with RBL it is their responsibility to sort it out", is a typical Telstra exercise in denying any responsibility.

That's evidence enough, to our mind, of a Big Pond versus Optus dispute.

The situation is that both Big Pond's CUSTOMERS and Optus' CUSTOMERS are suffering from the effect of the blocks, and Big Pond should be working with Optus to sort out the problem, rather than trying to split hairs and deny any responsibility. Telstra really has to try to understand what the word "dispute" means. Given they're in dispute with practically everybody, they tend not to notice.