On Sun, 12 Nov 1995, Elliott Parker wrote:
 
> On Sun, 12 Nov 1995 08:56:00 EST "Peter M. Weiss +1 814 863 1843" said:
> >
> >Would you kindly confirm the usage/legitimacy of account
> >
> >  John Smith <[log in to unmask]>
[...]
> >Please note that I have not received any other indication of
> >a problem with this account -- this is only an inquiry.
>
> I was just in the process of sending my own question to
> the list.  He has subscribed to all 6 of my lists, too.
 
I am uncertain if it would be considered an "indication of a problem,"
but I notice that he subscribed to a whole set of lists that I am
involved with and his subscription settings sure seem indicative of a
problem:
 
   INDEX, NOMAIL, CONCEAL
 
These are *NOT* the default settings for these lists.  He specifically issued
the commands to set it that way.  The only (even remotely) possible valid
reason for doing this might be the establishment of some kind of list mail
gateway, but that sure is a lot of mail to shove through one gateway even if
the mail was set to INDEX). I suspect his intent is to build his SPAM list,
send the command out to turn on the MAIL (set to INDEX), send his SPAM, and
read the INDEX for just that day to confirm distribution and then either
UNSUB or SET NOMAIL again.  Of course, he may also be trying to account for
older versions of LISTSERV where NOMAIL would not stop an INDEX.
 
The stupid thing about discussing this here, of course, is that he's
probably subscribed and watching.
 
Mark Hunnibell
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