Although this plan sounds reasonable on first hearing (given the present "environmental" conditions) it's not a workable solution. Optimistic view: Let's assume LISTSERV/LISTEARN/LISTwhatever turns into something like MTAs (mail transfer agents) - so let's call them LDAs (list distribution agents). Obviously there has to be some standard (RFC4000-RFC4999) which is supported by all LDAs. This may seem unnecessary work but on the other hand it will enable non-VM sites to implement LDAs and connect them as peers to existing VM-LDAs. Sure this will take some time and meanwhile the net will be split in to parts in terms of LDAs. Less optimistic view: A similar scenario but only a minimum standard can be worked out. EARN and BITNET/NetNorth agree on the use of special RFC822 tags and everything works more or less like the ARPA redistribution lists (with similar restrictions). Pessimistic view: NJE networks are already outdated. So why not start right now? With mailers already supporting various flavors of routing and TCP/IP and all kinds of gateways the RSCS-based network is an anachronism. *-* With the proposed plan a (partial) functional split of the networks seems unavoidable - a situation I dislike. I also don't know if BITNET/NetNorth want to make themselves headaches over something which is not a real problem. I.e. I don't know if EARN made an official request to talk about the efficiency, functionality and usefulness of LISTSERV (or an equivalent tool). Christian P.S.: this is not a final statement but meant to further stir up the discussion.