** Sometime around 19:07 -0500 02/25/99, SRE sent everyone:
>At 09:00 AM 2/23/99 -0500, Vince wrote:
>>You can reach them at <http://www.topica.com>
>
>FYI, http://topica.com is an error page that probably SHOULD bounce to
>the regular page. I almost never type the "http://www" because it almost
>always works without. Not this time!
YIKES! Agreed, and I'll mention that to them. Thanks for the heads up.
>Also, several of my lists are in your directory... but they've all
>been shut down for months. New server. The replacement lists aren't there.
Topica compiled the listing from PAML, tile.net, and Liszt -- if the
information was outdated on those sites, then it is outdated on Topica.
>How do you gather lists of lists? How often?
The lists database was compiled in coordination with PAML, tile.net and
Liszt. This was done once.
>Do you ask the list owners before listing their lists on your site?
> (rhetorical question, since I wasn't asked)
Apparently, you had asked to be in one of the contributory databases.
If not, then someone else apparently volunteered you.
>How do you pick the categories? What if you pick the wrong one?
Hmmm, I don't pick them, nor am I particularly familiar with the process.
I do know that it (1) involves a human, and (2) is not a job I'd want. ;-)
>At 09:48 AM 2/25/99 -0500, Vince wrote:
>>That's not spam -- that's a request to archive your mailing list. And
>>though I haven't seen the exact message, we had discussed this issue at
>>length within Topica: The message you receive should very specifically
>>*NOT* be "opt out," it should be "opt in."
>
>That applies only to content? What about the list address,
>the list description, even being cataloged on your site?
Not sure I understand what you are getting at here. Since this process
is triggered by a subscriber asking to subscribe (via Topica) to a list
in Topica's database, it necessarily includes the list address, etc., in
the database.
>I haven't formed an opinion of topica.com yet, but it seems you are
>doing it "opt out" in spite of what you posted earlier today. That's
>sort of an agressive strategy, isn't it?
Since the database was compiled from PAML, et al., Topica's position is
that the owners *intended* to be listed in those directories, and thus
would intend to be listed at Topica. Now, there are about 100,000
mailing lists in there, I think ... and it is a bit difficult to state
with any certainty that "Every Single List Owner will undoubtedly want
to be listed." However, I think it is safe to expect that the vast
majority of list owners will want to the listed (otherwise databases
like PAML wouldn't be as large and popular as they are). For the rest of
the list owners, Topica has made the presence of the database known to
the list-owner community right from Day 1 (last Tuesday), and have
provied a straightforward mechanism for removing your list from the
database.
Certainly, if you did not ask to have your mailing list included in the
contributory databases, this will not be a welcome proposition, no matter
how straightforward it is. But since it is not possible for Topica to
know, short of clairvoyance, which list owners want to be listed and
which ones do not, it becomes more sensible to go with the majority,
inform the list owner community of the existence of the database (Topica
is not trying to operate in "stealth mode" here), and provide a clear
and simple mechanism for owners who do not wnt their lists listed to
remove themselves.
Aggressive? Yes, perhaps. But then, Topica believes that the service it
is providing will be a significant benefit to the list-owner community
overall.
__________________________________________________________________________
Vince Sabio Boy & His Sabre: <http://www.insane.net/tsc/Vince/>
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Stop Internet Spam! <http://www.cauce.org/>
