Hi everybody, One of our valued members has sent me some information that I want to pass along to all of you. If anything like this happens to any of you, just let me know. There are better ways to handle things like this. I've already had to ban one person from our list. I managed to be an hour and a half ahead of this person and was able to block several unsolicited items from ever getting to you guys. That's part of my job as list host. And this is too. I don't want any of you to be concerned about your peace of mind on your genealogy list. So please, don't hesitate to drop me a line if you have problems. This is what was sent: Recently, on other RootsWeb surname mailing lists, two incidences of inappropriate activities have occurred. INCIDENT 1: A lurker (someone who never posts to the list) on one or more surname lists was posing as a surname researcher and was personally contacting list members who had posted queries on the surname discussion list. This individual would not share information and became rather intimidating to those list members refusing to share their data. Consequently, many of the lsit members became afraid to post further queries or data to the list for fear of reprisal from this individual. After considerable investigation, it appeared that this individual was writing a book (for profit) on the surname and used rude tactics to achieve their goal. INCIDENT 2: Another incident involved an individual who has badgered surname list members to purchase their books after members posted a query on the surname list. Both of these tactics will not appear to be a part of the lists worries, but they are. And there are way to handle this type of activity. If you feel that you have experienced any similar unwanted mail such as this let me know. I'll handle it pretty quickly. I don't want any of you to be harrassed because you chose to share your family information on our list. That's what we're here for. So be aware that one of my functions as a list host is to handle the tough jobs involved with caring for our mail lists. Relax, post as often as you like, and enjoy our family's mail list. donna list host