I think we've been blowing this whole thing waaaaay out of proportion. As I
understand it, it started with the wiley ol' WW declaring (and as owner of
this list, he has a perfect right to do so):

"CUT DOWN THE SPAM!!!"

because some people were complaining to him that the Noise-to-signal ratio
was getting really bad. Personally, I didn't think so, but then, I'm more
patient than most people (or is it more lethargic?). Anyway, some others
had a lower tollerance, and WW did somehting about it, as a good moderator
should.

At first, he directed all post to /dev/null, which was a mistake, which he
corrected. [pats him on the shoulder]

Then the flames came. People ranting that they had a right to make Noise
all they should on this list. They declared it a "freedom of expression"
issue. Sorry, it isn't. This is a privately owned ML, with no government
backing. If he wanted, he could summarily kill it, and then there would be
NO ML.

That means that we would be out of luck.

However, now we're ranting about it over the ML and creating the spam that
we hate so much. Sickening isn't it?

Sooo, I'll just add in my Noise to voice my opinion on this. Run it up the
flagpole and see who salutes. Take a plunge. Throw it in the streets and
see if the cats come after it. Put it on a hook and...

Wyrm-chan: (mallets him) GET ON WITH IT!!

Okay, okay... I don't think the FFML will be any different in a few weeks,
save that the N/S ratio will be a little better. There is absolutely
nothing preventing a die-hard spammer from spamming. It's just that it
takes a little more work (GASP! :O) to post. No biggie. It just means that
instead of just replying, you have to actually change the TO: header.

However, it takes a little time, time enough for you to stop and say: "Do I
REALLY want to post that?" I have often found that just after I post, I
kick myself for sending such a remark. This allows me to stop, look, and
listen, just like you do when crossing the street.

No biggie. People will get used to it and spam away.

I don't mind spam. Spam is fun, spam is great, when it is INTELLIGENT or
witty spam. Good threads contain a wealth of story ideas if you look for
them, and it alerts people to the fact that things are being discussed.
They can then throw in their two cents, or correct something that they
belive is an error. You can't do this with private E-mail, because it
doesn't bring everyone into the group. And if you don't want to
participate? Well, all mail programs I've seen, from the VMess mail program
to Eudora, allows you to see a list of all your mail. You can then spend a
few minutes clearing out the threads you don't care about. It takes some...
WORK (GASP!2 O.O), but it's time well-spent. It also allows you to cut out
the REAL noise and get on with reading fics.

No sweat.

I realize that this is a ML. I also accept that when I joined, I would be
getting a large N/S ratio. I mean, this is a ML that you don't have to be a
member to post for crying out loud. You should expect the list to send out
some spam. Also, fanfics take time. Without spam, this list would be dead
for days on end. I consider 50% spam-to-fic/cc ratio better than I can hope
for. Or a very temporary surge.

That's my spam.

Now, enough of this! (puts on Loki-Mask, spins around like the Tazmainian
devil, and stops wearing an outrageous eyesore of a getup, and his face is
green and caracturized)

Wyrm-Mask: (holding keyboards two-fisted) GIT OUT YOUR KEYBOARDS, IT'S
TAAAAAHM FOR A SPAM-WAHR!

(just kidding, WW! Jeez! ;)

                           ---------------------
-wyrm(AKA Tom Jefferys; Time Lord for Hire, "Have TARDIS; Will Travel.")
<wyrm@mail.utexas.edu>                       <JEFFERYSTR@rascal.guilford.edu>
Member of the AFSS          Depraived Kawaii Thing of the First Order, Martin
   =<SIG>= Wyrm-chan @_@ H-Wyrm @_@ Ten @_@ Chibi-Usa @_@ Azusa =</SIG>=
=<^_^>= R1/2#_#BGC#_#Sailor Moon#_#Dr Who#_#Star Trek#_#Monty Python =</^_^>=

"DINSDALE!!!" -Spiny Norman