Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site cbosgd.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!cbosgd!mark From: mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) Newsgroups: net.unix,net.wanted,net.news.sa,net.news.adm Subject: Re: UNIX Reference Materials --- Product Announcement By SSC Message-ID: <1032@cbosgd.UUCP> Date: Wed, 29-Feb-84 13:08:53 EST Article-I.D.: cbosgd.1032 Posted: Wed Feb 29 13:08:53 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 2-Mar-84 06:46:37 EST References: <242@teltone.UUCP>, <318@dual.UUCP> <1029@cbosgd.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus Lines: 36 Personally, I get enough junk mail from lots of random sources that I never gave my permission to sell my name for, that I don't mind getting junk mail based on the Usenet directory. I do want to emphasize that the purpose of the Usenet directory is not for mailing lists, but so that we'll know (a) who is on the net, and (b) who to contact when something breaks. I've been trying to track down the sites that are generating rejection notices for net.announce the last few days, and about half of them are sites that not only run the old buggy software (even though the fix has been out for over 6 months) but also have not bothered to announce themsleves, so I don't know who places like spuxll, ltuxa, and symplex are. Trying to track down the contact person for these sites is hard because we have no info on them. spuxll is even harder because they get news from abnjh, another site for which we have no information. This is why it's important to have the list and for it to be complete. Obviously, SSC or any other generator of junk mail is obligated to remove anybody from their list who requests it (I think this is a USPS regulation.) And since we do not intend the Usenet directory to be used this way, we are not obligated to help them by marking unwilling junk mail recipients in the master list. (However, if there is sentiment that such marks would be of overall benefit to Usenet, we may consider it.) What I'd like to know is: what is the sentiment of Usenet on this issue - especially the netnews contacts to whom such mail is directed (thus I've added net.news.adm to this list)? Do you object to the Usenet directory (which is currently put into the public domain each month) being used for product mailing lists? What about other things (headhunters come to mind)? Should we include some kind of policy statement in the cover letter that restricts the uses it can be put to? Would it do any good? Mark