If A2b is important to you, then you should immediately following through with A3b. <deletia>
A2b: Note that blocking it at the router does nothing to free up our bandwidth to the internet we are trying to provide to our customers. Since the path between our router and world.std.com is a 100mb/s FDDI letting it go that one more hop is inconsequential to the harm being done.
Q3: Ok, why don't you ask your provider (Alternet) to block it?
<deletia>
A3b: Yes Alternet has offered to do this as soon as I request it.
It strikes me that you're using this event as a vehicle to effect a desireable change at the expense of your customers. (And, some might argue, several mailing lists.) Or, it's really not affecting your customers all that much, in which case you may be inflating the severity of the harm being done. -David