I received a request this morning to delete a message from one of my lists'
archives. The message in question was an e-oops (private embarrassing mail
reply accidentally sent to the list. I have mixed feelings about doing this
and would like to solicit your opinions and feedback on the matter.

1). Should listowners delete messages from list archives at subscriber
requests?

2). Will doing so create a bad precedent that will lead to a list management
nightmare?

3). Will refusing to do so create a legal/ethical dilemma for me in future
if some unforseen thing happens where it might be necessary to do so--if I
am ordered to do so by management, for instance.

4). Tech note: is it even possible to do such a thing? Is it just a matter
of editing a flat file, or is there some behind-the-scenes checksumming
going on that will invalidate the archive if you change its length?

-aht