I assume you are talking about discussion lists rather than newsletters. The fundamental problem is that an intelligent discussion between more than a handful of people requires a certain degree of commitment and willingness to follow rules. This problem cannot be solved through the application of technology.

Consider a meeting room full of people who all have important things to say. While the discussion may at times be heated or chaotic, usually it remains somewhat on focus, with the chairman stepping in to restore order as necessary. It works well because the participants are at least somewhat committed, and reasonably willing to follow rules. You mileage will vary, but overall you come out of the room having learned something, or communicated something. This is the way a discussion list is supposed to work.

Now let's say that the meeting room is in a hotel, with a direct door to the street, and that you keep the door open and post a big sign outside inviting anyone to step in, at any time, for any reason and any length of time. All kinds of curious people keep coming in, asking questions whose answer would have been self-evident if only they had stayed for more than 5 minutes, and generally interrupting. You try to deal with them patiently, but they look at their watch and remember an appointment, or decide that the discussion is boring, and just leave. You come out of the meeting with a headache and a firm promise to yourself that this was the last time. This is what happens when you take commitment away, and you cannot solve this problem with technology. The only circumstance in the real world where this kind of communication is common and desired is at parties, bars, etc.

What you can do with technology, though, is require a minimum level of commitment before you let the participants in. The "Subscription= Open,Confirm" option has been a popular tool in that respect, although its primary function is to increase security and protect from mail-bombing. What it does is filter away potential subscribers who either do not know what their e-mail address is, or do not have a long enough attention span to confirm the subscription. Another method is to set "Default-Options= REVIEW" so that new subscribers cannot post messages without going through the moderator.

  Eric