Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84; site opus.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!hao!cires!nbires!opus!rcd
From: rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn)
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: Re: use of netnews site information databases
Message-ID: <863@opus.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 2-Oct-84 14:32:49 EDT
Article-I.D.: opus.863
Posted: Tue Oct  2 14:32:49 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 5-Oct-84 08:42:33 EDT
References: <1531@nsc.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: NBI,Inc, Boulder CO
Lines: 28

> An interesting thing has happened recently that I thought might be of
> interest to everyone out there. I got some junk mail. Now the interesting
> part of that is that it was addressed in such a way that I feel the only
> place they could have gotten my name and address from is the database of
> Usenet site contacts...should we attempt to encourage or
> discourage it, or should we ignore it completely (it won't go away, of
> course)?

As with any junk mail scheme, it won't continue if it doesn't work.  If you
people who receive the junk mail are, as a group, sufficiently hacked off
about getting it, do two things:
	- Don't respond to the solicitation (or whatever) even if it sounds
	  like something that might be interesting.  That is, don't give
	  the solicitor any positive feedback.
	- Send a piece of protesting mail and ask to have them not send you
	  anything more.  (It's easy to do this if you set up a form letter
	  to send out.)  This gives them a piece of email which they have
	  to look at (because it might be a reply indicating interest) but
	  no return on their time invested.  It's sort of like sending back
	  the business reply envelope empty when you get some totally
	  useless junk mail.
If it gets out of hand in spite of this approach, the people getting the
junk mail could always ask the USENET community for help.  This is a LARGE
group of people; annoying them even a little bit can produce a "meaningful
response."
-- 
Dick Dunn	{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd		(303)444-5710 x3086
   ...Relax...don't worry...have a homebrew.