I am sorry but once again I have to take issue with you. You say this use of the mailing constitutes spam. Spam is defined as unsolicited bulk eMail and by subscribing to your list, each and everyone of us has signed up for bulk, unsolicited eMail. Tacitly we have agreed to be spammed. OK, we signed up to a genealogy mailing list so our expectation is that the messages we receive should relate to that topic, and anything that is off topic should be regarded as spam. But the mail we received DID relate to that topic so maybe we should only consider it spam if it had a commercial aim. But it was not an attempt to sell us anything; it was an academic enquiry. Spam also typically originates from spoofed addresses - this one was from a genuine address. Let us just remember this was a genuine enquiry from a student doing research into genealogy tools. Perfectly on topic as far as I can see. I think that if we were to award marks for 'spam-ness' then the originator at worst scores 5%, due to the poor way the request was initially posted. The responses I saw from the other members of the mailing list were enquiries about the status of the enquirer or positive replies. The credentials of the originator were easy to establish and I did so. I do not recall seeing much, if any, complaint. So let's now consider the mailing list manager's response. The originator has been forcibly unsubscribed from the mailing list. I believe that response is disproportionate. It disappoints me that someone's educational studies can be hampered by censorship. An alternative name for a mailing list manager is 'moderator,' a word which has an obvious root. Moderation seems to have been in short supply in this case. Is it right to say, you can do what you wish but I disagree with you all and so as manager of the list I will enforce MY opinion by forcing the subscriber off the forum. If that is the kind of forum you want to create, fine, but then you'd better remove me too, because it's not the kind of behaviour I want to be associated with. Regards Paul Barrett -----Original Message----- From: CFT-WIN List Manager [mailto:GeorgeWDurman@comcast.net] Sent: 25 June 2005 09:00 To: CFT-WIN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [CFTW] questionnaire of internet genealogy users requirement survey Folks, you can do as you wish, but I caution you to NOT respond to this type of request. First of all, this person has made a list of Mailing Lists and has probably sent his request to each List, after first subscribing to the Lists. These Mailing Lists at Rootsweb were not intended for such purposes. (It's called SPAMMING!) Regards, George W. Durman CFT-WIN Mailing List Manager At 13-06-05 11:41 AM Monday, Juan Du wrote: *********START OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT********* >Juan Du > >C/O Jeff Jones > >IMC, WMG > >University of Warwick > >CV4 7AL > >jdujojo@yahoo.co.uk > >Dear user: > >As part of my Masters degree in Electronic Business Management at >Warwick University I am undertaking a study of the use of the >internet for genealogical purposes. The purpose of this study is to >identify the way in which genealogical internet sites make money and >to understand the customer base. > >To facilitate this study you are invited to participate in an email >survey questionnaire which is designed to investigate the user >requirements for internet genealogy such as searching for ancestor >history data, finding people, creating your family website and >designing a family tree. In this survey, there are 20 questions and >it will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. > >Your participation in this survey is voluntary but would be >appreciated. If you take part and provide a contact email address a >copy of the analysis of the survey will be sent to you upon >completion. If at any time you feel uncomfortable answering any of >the questions then please just ignore it and carry on with the next >question. >(snip) **********END OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT*********** ==== CFT-WIN Mailing List ==== You can contact the List Manager at: CFT-WIN-admin@rootsweb.com