Re: Wondering about how SpamCop works

Patty wrote...

> I am being told that with the current software, sending out a confirmation
> email would result in that person being subscribed automatically.
> Modifying it would be difficult and then would be very difficult to
> maintain when new versions came out.  We are using a standard software
> package (I have not been told which one) and it is very big.
>
> I am also told that there are not nearly as many solutions as some would
> believe.  Listservs are hard to set up and maintain for large lists.  We
> have an exceptionally large list (nearly 5,000 members) and many 
> integrated
> tools that everyone takes for granted.  Changing now would require months
> of full-time effort and several full-time people to administer the list.
> Since we are a small non-profit organization, we don't have any paid 
> staff,
> only volunteers that handle the day to day list duties.

May I make a suggestion?  Perhaps you can persuade the person(s) who you are
discussing this with to post here, and thus avoid the current situation 
where
those who have the technical knowledge are passing messages through someone
who is less technical.  Have them start here:

http://www.cluelessmailers.org/info/listmanagement.html

http://www.mail-abuse.com/an_listmgntgdlines.html


> I guess the feeling is, that since we are an opt-in list (the person must
> choose to join),

Alas, you have no way of knowing that the above is true.  With your present 
setup,
a bad guy can "opt-in" someone else who does not want to be on your list. 
Granted,
they would have to be somewhat clever to get past your manual confirmation 
process,
but it could be done (and *will* be done if the bad guys get wind of an 
abusable
mailing list)

> and because we are dealing with such a specific subject
> that has very limited appeal to the masses, a confirmation is not really
> necessary.

Alas, while it is true that your specific subject has limited appeal, the
practice of subscribing somneone who you dislike to thousands of mailing
lists has a wide appeal among a certain class of person.  These net-abusers
tend to make up lists of abusable mailing lists, and once you get on such a
list you will see a huge increase in bogus subscriptions.

> Granted, it is considered a good practice, but is not required
> of a listserv.

Alas, delivering the emails your listserv sends is *also* not required, and
many of them will end up being blocked as the abusers subscribe unwilling
victims and some of the victims report you to spamcop and other blocklists
and ask their system admins to block your IP address.  If you really want to
take the position that getting a person's consent before sending them a 
bunch
of email is "not required", then please don't complain when a bunch of your
recipients start asking why your emails are blocked; delivering those emails
is also "not required."

>However, there are a couple of us on the administrative
>roster who do think that some type of confirmation would be a good idea.
>So, perhaps this option will be explored more in the future.

I urge you in the strongest possible terms to not wait.
Do what is suggested in the following webpages
http://www.cluelessmailers.org/info/listmanagement.html
http://www.mail-abuse.com/an_listmgntgdlines.html
now, before net-abusers discover that you have given them a loaded gun to
"punish" their enemies with and destroy your reputation while doing it.

-- 
G.M.