The example given in this thread proves you wrong. My friend had a vanity domain, did not have her own mail server.
Okay, and why does she need to use Verizon's servers to send email from her own vanity domain? Unless I am missing something and Verizon gets paid for this?
But that's OK, we should tell people one thing (use your ISP's server to send mail) and do another (block them from sending mail through their ISP's server).
I believe you are exaggerating, like I usually like to do. My point is the the vast.. vast.. clueless majority is a direct threat to Internet survivability (ooh, big words). The 100s of thousands of clued users who has a vanity domains can definitely find an easy way to send mail, without using the provider's servers. The cost of allowing these servers to stay "open" is extremely high, and we are paying the price every day.
Makes the "clueless majority" much happier when even the "techies" can't figure out WTF they are supposed to do.
That's the point, the clueless, vast, vast, majority is happy. They don't care. They don't know there are 40 Trojan horses and 400 spyware components installed on their quiet green desktop. All they know is that their email account works. I know that they are threatening the Internet. Clear and simple. Gadi.