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Subject: |
ADMIN/POLICY: Anonymous/pseudonymous accounts on firewalls list |
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From: |
mcb @
greatcircle .
com (Michael C. Berch) |
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Date: |
Fri, 10 Feb 1995 17:30:24 +0000 |
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To: |
firewalls |
Brent and I have discussed the issues involved, and we both agree
that the best policy is as follows:
1. Anonymous and pseudonymous postings and subscriptions are permitted
on the list. Readers should remember that in the absence of personal
knowledge of the poster or the use of authentication software, *all*
postings are subject to forgery, spoofing, ficticious identities,
falsely-assumed affilliations, etc. Internet mail is not inherently
secure, and readers should act prudently before taking action relying on
a specific posting. HOWEVER:
2. Anonymous and pseudonymous addresses will be purged if they cause
problems for the list software or membership. This includes everything
from spam to posting cracking code to causing the anon-address allocation
for every poster problem as noted by several people here.
3. Each server works slightly differently, but in the case of the
anon.penet.fi server, subscriptions to the list must be in the form
"naNNNNNN @
anon .
penet .
fi" form, not the normal "anNNNNNN @
anon .
penet .
fi"
form. This means that (1) the return address of people sending mail
to the anon poster will be known to the poster, AND (2), more
importantly, the server will NOT try to allocate an anon address to
senders of messages (including those posting via mailing lists).
As the volume of the list is already high, I don't see the need to
make this into a discussion topic. There have been
literally hundreds if not thousands of messages on the topic of anon/nym
postings in various mailing lists and newsgroups, and the result
is basically that they're not going to go away, they have positive
and negative effects, and that people who object to these postings
are free to suppress them individually in their mail program or newsreader.
Also: the an196844 @
anon .
penet .
fi address was unsubscribed today from
the firewalls list by the user's request to Majordomo. It was not
bounced. Presumably the user realized the problem with the
anNNNNNN address and will re-subscribe some other way.
--
Michael C. Berch
Postmaster and List Manager, Great Circle Associates
mcb @
greatcircle .
com
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