On Jun 19, 2007, at 7:39 AM, Eric Thomas wrote:

>> Sometimes AOL filters get a little too aggressive and put listmail
>> and
>> administrative messages in the spam folder. If these are not removed
>> they
>> are reported to AOL as spam. Unless subscribers check their spam
>> folder
>> during every mail session mail and mark all legitimate mail
>> everything
>> in there will be reported as spam.
>
> This sounds like a textbook example of how NOT to design a system
> whose bottom line is "one strike and you're out" (which as you know
> is the way AOL demands that senders process their spam reports).
> The system should not generate spam complaints on the basis of
> messages that no actual human being has reported as spam, or indeed
> even looked at. I had to disable the junk mail function in Outlook
> because some mail from my colleagues was randomly saved in the junk
> mail folder and unanswered. We were never able to figure out why,
> and the messages definitely did not contain any "spammy" words. I
> would hate to think that closing Outlook without having
> investigated that folder carefully would have ANY lasting
> consequences, but this seems to be exactly what AOL has implemented.

AOL is truly a business that survives (barely) despite itself. As for
Outlook's aggressive junk mail filtering, my humble recommendation
is, don't use Outlook.

>
>> Following AOL's own instructions to filter mail from unwanted senders
>> to the spam folder will cause those messages to be reported as spam.
>
> This is even more absurd. If there is one specific poster on the
> list whose messages you do not care to read, for instance because
> he writes in a language you do not speak, the entire list is
> reported as spam.
>
> It seems that the reason AOL users are managing to stay on LISTSERV
> lists (if at an unreasonably high burden to list owners, who have
> to keep re-adding them all the time) is that organizations do not
> have the manpower to implement AOL's requirements for spam feedback
> loops. This will change with LISTSERV 15.5, and AOLers will end up
> having to get another ISP if they want to maintain subscription
> status - or petition AOL to fix their system. With an estimated 10M
> AOL subscriptions to LISTSERV lists, maybe AOL will listen.

Eric, I am about to upgrade our production LISTSERV from 14.5 to 15.
I am wondering if I should hold off on doing that upgrade if 15.5 is
going to be available by the end of August. Is there a way I can beta
test 15.5 for Linux? If so, I will volunteer to do it on my test
server if I meet your beta testing criteria.