[Mailman-Users] A funny thing happened while using mail man.

[Brad Knowles]

At 1:43 PM -0500 2005-03-31, ICHRONSTUDIO at aol.com wrote:

>  I now know how to set it up as announce only.  I even know how to put  my
>  database on with out sending out a thank you for subscribing mail.  How  do I
>  stop the continuing replies?

	Well, that depends on how they're doing the continuing replies. 
If all those people are doing "Reply-All", then most of them are 
being sent directly from each person to each other person who was 
named in the previous message to which someone did a "Reply-All", and 
since none of that passes through your machines, there's not much you 
can do.

	Anything passing through your machines should be passing through 
your lists, and if you've got the list configurations set up 
correctly now, they should already be stopped.

>  Sorry to bother you about this, it was my own ignorance that put me here,
>  but I was hoping that you might be able to suggest sometihng to get me  out.

	In my experience, one general rule is that when you add a bunch 
of people to a list and you don't send out an announcement welcoming 
them to the list, and large numbers of people start immediately 
responding with "STOP SENDING ME E-MAIL" complaints, etc.... that 
means you're basically sending spam, and that makes you a spammer.

	In the future, if you don't want to be lumped in with that class 
of person, I would encourage you to do things differently so that 
your activities do not encourage those people to respond that way.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad at stop.mail-abuse.org>

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

     -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), reply of the Pennsylvania
     Assembly to the Governor, November 11, 1755

   SAGE member since 1995.  See <http://www.sage.org/> for more info.