.Mac customers suffer e-mail glitches

Some users of Apple's .Mac e-mail service reported Monday that e-mails being sent to their accounts were being returned to the sender even though their mailboxes were not full. Apple confirmed the problem on its Web site and said the database problem that caused the glitch has been fixed.

"A small number of customers were having difficulties receiving mail due to database issues," Apple said. "The sender of the email will receive a bounce-back claiming that the destination account is over quota. The issue is now resolved and mail should be delivered as expected."

[WGibson648]

I think the problem is a bit more pervasive ...

For the past week, I have attempted to use my .Mac account to
send mail, but to no avail. It is a consistent problem whether
using my corporate LAN, my cable modem (Optimum online) --
whether I am directly wired or using my Airport, or using a dial-
up modem ISP (such as AOL).

It appears that, while I can reach the account, there is a problem
getting information transmitted via "smtp.mac.com" using port
25. Is anyone else experiencing a similar difficulty?

I am running a PowerBook Titanium G4, Mac OS X 10.3.5, with
384 MB of SDRAM.

Thanks,

Will Gibson