[EM] Policy change: non-subscriber mails automatically rejected

[Rob Lanphier]

Hi all,

As some of you may be aware, we've had a policy of only allowing
subscriber emails to automatically pass through to the list.  However,
for non-subscribers, we've held those posts for review.  In the past,
the ratio was something like 100 spams per 1 legitimate email.  Pretty
bad, but manageable.  Thankfully, we've had a volunteer (Anthony Duff)
who has sifted through that pile to find the occasional gem.

Times have changed; spamming has become a much larger problem and
unfortunately, the software provided by Dreamhost for this list (Mailman
2.1.6) hasn't kept up.  The ratio is something closer to 1000 (or even
10,000) spams to 1 legitimate email.  I gave up long ago, and Anthony
has just recently asked to throw in the towel.

So, the long and short of it is this:  non-subscribers who send mail
this list will automatically be rejected.  They will receive a bounce
notification with list subscription information, but it will be
unambiguous that their post will not get through.

I'd like to thank Anthony for fighting the brave fight for the past
year.  He did a great job of keeping on top of the queue, only helped
very occasionally by myself.

If someone wants to volunteer for queue duty, I could reverse this
policy, but at this point, I recommend against it.  The problem is just
too big.  It's easier just to reject all non-subscriber mail.

Rob