SLUG Mailing List ArchivesSLUG Mailing List ArchivesI think it's preferable to silently drop spam on the floor than send back an automatic reply. A bounce would be slightly useful, but it would have to be a regular reply. And whether we see the resulting tidal wave of spam or not, the thought of encouraging the practice really bothers me.
Yes, I see your point... How do you differentiate between a genuine message from an unsubscribed person and spam ?
One way would be to ban ALL posts from unsubscribed addresses, post a notice to this effect on the website, and then just drop these posts into the bit bucket...
Of course, not being intimately involved with the setup of the list software, I'm unsure how hard it would be to modify the existing subscription system to grant posting privelages once a user is subscribed....
Then again, what would stop a spammer (unless they come from a known address / domain which is blocked) from subscribing... Could an automatic authentication process be implemented (i.e. sent a confirmation message with a URL they had to go to in order to "activate" their subscription)... Most spammers wouldn't even bother I guess... The only other way would be someone approving all subscriptions (time consuming, I know).
> As for telling new users to "go away", no-one was suggesting that - just > that they are told that to have "posting privelages", they have to > subscribe - after all, this is how the majority of mailing lists are run. Every mailing list I recall taking part in either blindly allowed posts from non-subscribers, or held them for moderation. Automatically rejecting them with a request to subscribe strikes me as a fairly rude dismissal, and seems at odds with the otherwise fairly friendly atmosphere of the list.
I disagree - in order to keep the list friendly, useful and somewhat (!!) professional, I think it's a necessity... If people are easily offended by a simple request to subscribe (worded appropriately), then that's their problem... I would say they couldn't be very serious about wanting to subscribe....
Jon