[Mailman-Users] Welcoming SPAM: Sign-Up Approval, and Two-Phase Posting

[Greg Stein]

Clark Evans wrote:
> 
> I was thinking how one can deter spam, and
> when you can't deter it, at least benifit
> finantially.
> ...

After reading this, all I can think is "hey. I'm a valid poster, but
you're putting a bunch of roadblocks in my way. feh. I don't need that.
go away."

IMO, mailing lists are to *encourage* communication. The policies that
you describe seem to just put roadblocks in the way of legitimate
posting. I certainly would not participate on that kind of list.

Note that most spam is already prevented by Mailman simply by virtue of
requiring the listname on the To: or CC: lines. I rarely see spam on my
lists. Maybe once a month or two.

The simplest way to prevent spam is to close your list to posters-only.
Since spam machines won't be signing up, they won't be able to post.
Legitimate posters from non-members will go to the admin for approval;
if it is spam, the admin just torches it.

-g

--
Greg Stein, http://www.lyra.org/