Well, we seem to have different opinions on how much of a problem the
"drive-bys" are - but the only man REALLY in a position to state some
statistics is off line temporarily. Therefore I am posting the following
suggestion to the list for a course of action. When Arthur returns then
we will of course involve him in discussions of this matter before any
decisions are made.
It must be about time to stop all of this and clean house if we wish to
prevent this list from becoming just another Usenet group. I therefore wish
to be presumptuous and suggest the following course of action. Please
forgive any references to stuff you lot have have already considered. I am
merely being thorough.
1) All hot-links to WWW are cut. The list will then not be so easy to
reach by the irritating elements. We could place a subscription
notice on the MVPA home page pointing to our e-mail address. That
way new subscribers would have to go the e-mail way. So we would
not then loose contact completely with the WWW.
2) A note is sent to the list stating that within about a week, all
list members will be unsubscribed and have to subscribe again if
they wish to continue as members. I know this may give a temporary
headache, but it would mean that those who are not sure would simply
not resubscribe.
3) A new subscibe proceedure is set in place. When one subscribes, one
receives a welcome message stating what the list is about, who it
is for, how to send messages and unsubscribe, etc. The message header
contains a reply code in the subject line. The receiver of the
message must send a reply to this message within, lets say 48 hours,
containing the original subject line code. If this is done, the
person will be subscribed. If not, the original attempt will be
forgotten.
4) When time-out occurs, a final message is sent, and the list erased.
This may or may not work as desired. Some people who wish to continue to
be a list member may not receive the notices of unsubscription, due to
technical problems, etc, and be unsubscribed "without warning". When they
eventually get to wondering why they are not receiving mail, and send a note
to the list adress, they will of course receive the welcome message and info
on subscription.
As an alternative, and in order to give Arthur a break from
all this rubbish and bad mouthing he has to put up with, then the next
idea is to suggest a "bounce duty" rosta to the list, where bounced messages
can be sent. I will of course immediately volunteer for such duty. List
members will then take turns - perhaps of a week or two at a time - to
handle bounced messages.
I realise, of course that this will in all probability mean a reduction
of list membership. But the original intention of the list was to have a
place where serious people can go for info and contacts, and with at present
400 list members, most of whom are serious about the hobby, I suspect that
the reduction will be limited. The list has grown partly because of the
WWW connection. However, by now there are so many aware of its existence
that I don't see any danger in cutting off the connections and cleaning
house.
Kind Regards
LT Gerry Davison - Denmark