----- Original Message -----
From: "Jane Lyle" <[log in to unmask]>
>
> The first few times it happened, we forwarded the messages to Hotmail and
> asked whether there was anything they could do about it. We didn't get a
> single response--not even an acknowledgment of our requests.
[...]
> I find it an annoyance, but a relatively minor one.


I see your point, and Douglas' point.  Still, I have created a Hotmail
account and sent test subscription requests to my list without being able to
duplicate the problem.  Then again, I did tell the user profile what my real
name was, so that LISTSERV somehow parsed my firstname lastname information
out of the subscription request message ("subscribe listname firstname
lastname"), and from the mail headers ("subscribe listname").  Perhaps new
Hotmail users aren't setting those fields, or maybe those users are using
the MSN Explorer as their browser.

Because I can't reproduce this problem myself, I've sent copies of the
LISTSERV "so-and-so has requested to subscribe" reports with the bogus user
name to the Hotmail technical support staff to see if they'll respond.  They
might respond to an actual Hotmail customer where otherwise they might
ignore a non-customer, so I'll cross my fingers and wait.


> As for asking subscribers to fix it, I don't know that they can--and many
> of the people who are using these services are not all that
> technologically savvy.

Yes, I can see that it would be tedious to ask every user to fix their
Hotmail User Profile thus, if it is the culprit:

1. Log in to Hotmail.
2. Click on Options to the right of the Inbox and Compose buttons.
3. In the first column of links, under the heading 'Your Information", click
the first link, "Personal Profile".
4. In the first text field, fill in your first/given name.
5. In the second text field, fill in your last/family name, if it isn't
filled in already.
6. Near the bottom of the page, click the "OK" button.

--
Michael