Tom Neff wrote,

| I didn't message Gateway's postmaster, btw, because I don't want them 
| collaring some poor shlub in Accounts Receivable and demanding to know why 
| she/he is using company computers to read a non-work related Digest.  This 
| is its own meta-problem for many of us, I suspect.

No kidding.  I got burned on that once and swore it off forever.  A member
started returning odd bounces that looked to be end-user-generated, and I
asked his postmaster about it.  The subscriber flamed me back for getting him
in trouble; hey, how was I to know he wasn't allowed to receive my list at
his job?  It was his decision to su6scri6e!  Naturally, now knowing that he
was violating company policy, I refused to be an accessory and cut him off.

I never chased down members' email problems any more after that with those in
control of the mail transports; unless I had another way to reach the member,
I just dealt with the problem as with any other reason for non-delivery.  If
it's a company or school address, the subscribers don't want their superiors
to know about their personal use; if it's a for-pay ISP, it's not up to me to
fight for what service they get for their money; if it's an account on a free
mail server or with a free ISP, it's not up to me to argue what service they
get for watching the ad banners.  It's an absolute no-win situation.

If I'd run a list that the bosses or the faculty had required employees or
students to join, it would be a different story.


Reply via email to