On Sun, 31 Aug 1997, Howard S Shubs wrote:

> And my position is that that policy decision is a serious mistake.  How
> often do we get posts from non-members?  Anyway, if someone can't be
> bothered to join the list for the time it takes to ask a question and get
> an answer, I can't be bothered to hear from them.  It's a good way to
> prevent spam, at least until we make them illegal in this country.  But
> that's politics.

   "illegal in this country" ... while I agree that SPAM is frustrating
   and annoying, this is the _Internet_ -- which country do you have in
   mind?  Laws from individual countries aren't the solution.

   A better solution (as a subscriber to this and many lists) would be
   a list that permits subscribers to post freely, but restricts both a
   subscription request and posts from non-subscribers by passing them
   through a moderator.  The non-subscriber benefits from having their
   post relayed to the list ... and they aren't going to mind a delay 
   or two if the post must be approved.

   Of course, this is an added burden to a list-owner ... but maybe it
   is a burden that could be distributed (if properly implemented).

   andrew.  (brennan@auhs.edu)