[Dovecot] BEWARE: This list is being harvested for leads

[Stan Hoeppner]

On 5/17/2012 3:19 PM, Timo Sirainen wrote:
> On 17.5.2012, at 22.56, Stan Hoeppner wrote:
> 
>> On 5/17/2012 9:45 AM, Timo Sirainen wrote:
>>
>>> The list included only .com addresses, with gmail/yahoo/etc removed. I'm sure Tim will be happy to send you the email if you ask it from him. :)
>>
>> But not all .com's.  I didn't receive such an email.  Which means you
>> sat down and spent some amount of time identifying who may be good
>> "targets" for this marketing email and who not.
> 
> It means that the mail was first sent to only a part of the list to see what happens.
> 
> Yeah, I guess I should have spent a few more minutes thinking this through.

Yeah, apparently you didn't realize that thing in your hand was a
grenade before you tossed it. ;)

It's not my intent, nor I believe that of others, to shred you to pieces
over this Timo.

It simply boils down to the fact that many on this list are rabid
anti-spammers, and have spent years of our lives combating the UCE
problem and educating people on email sender BCP.  You broke BCP so
you're getting your proverbial spanking over it.  The fact that you
author a mail server, of all things, I think makes it a bit worse, and
some/many feel you should have known better.  Maybe this is our mistake
for assuming a mail server programmer should possess the same knowledge
and experience as operators, should have cut you more slack.

Put up an opt-in form on your commercial site (you have one don't you?)
and post the link to the mailing list.  That's the proper way to do this
without irritating anyone.  That's what the whole concept of 'opt-in' is
all about.

Consider this saga a learning experience, but don't fret over it, and
certainly don't lose any sleep over it.  It's not 'that' big a deal.

We all still adore you for this fantastic mail server you've so
graciously provided us.

-- 
Stan