Alexander Harrowell wrote:
Because....we wouldn't have e-mail? Consider the pain of getting worldwide interoperability for a "notmail" system that insisted on strict validation...
The SMTP ship has already sailed, so trying to change the behavior of email would be difficult. I do, however, reject the notion that strict validation make implementation of interoperability painful. If the specifications are clearly defined, rather than allowing interpretation by the implementer, then interoperability would be almost assured. The problem is that many specifications in RFCs are loose and left open to interpretation by the individual software programmers. But, to the original question... If the customer's email is important to the business, then you may want to accept the email that may not be complaint to a strict interpretation of the RFC. -Sean