Greg (HE12025-06-27): > Bounce can and does mean a rejection of the email by the *server*
No, that is not accurate. Server rejecting a mail and server bouncing a mail are different mechanism. The server rejects the mail by returning an error code at SMTP level. No bounce is generated. If the server has accepted the mail but something later fails, it cannot return the error through the protocol, so the solution is to generate a delivery status notification message, commonly called bounce. The confusion comes from the fact that SMTP operates with relays: if the next relay rejects the mail, then the previous relay has to generate delivery status notification message. Regards, -- Nicolas George
