I hate getting "probed" in this way, especially when it is done by a method that "lacks flexibility and forgiveness".
On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 5:00 AM, LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU LISTSERV Server (15.5) <lists...@listserv.american.edu> wrote: > Fri, 9 Mar 2012 06:00:15 > > This message is a "probe" for your subscription to the MoPo-L list. You > do not need to take any action to remain subscribed to the list, and in > particular you should not reply to this message. Simply discard it now, > or read on if you would like to know more about how this probing > mechanism works. > > A "probe" is a message like the one you are reading, sent to an > individual subscriber and tagged with a special signature to uniquely > identify this particular subscriber (you can probably not see the > signature because it is in the mail headers). If the subscriber's e-mail > address is no longer valid, the message will be returned to LISTSERV and > the faulty address will be removed from the list. If the subscriber's > address is still valid, the message will not bounce and the user will not > be deleted. > > The main advantage of this technique is that it can be fully automated; > the list owner does not need to read a single delivery error. For a large > or active list, the manpower savings can be tremendous. In fact, some > lists are so large that it is virtually impossible to process delivery > errors manually. Another advantage is that the special, unique signatures > make it possible to accurately process delivery errors that are otherwise > unintelligible, even to an experienced technical person. > > The drawback, however, is that this method lacks flexibility and > forgiveness. Since the Internet does not provide a reliable mechanism for > probing an e-mail address without actually delivering a message to the > human recipient, the subscribers need to be inconvenienced with yet > another "junk message". And, unlike a human list owner, LISTSERV follows > a number of simple rules in determining when and whether to terminate a > subscription. In particular, a common problem with automatic probes is > mail gateways that return a delivery error, but do deliver the message > anyway. LISTSERV has no way to know that the message was in fact > delivered, and in most cases the subscriber is not aware of the existence > of these "false" error reports. If this happens to you, LISTSERV will > send you another message with a copy of the delivery error returned by > your mail system, so that you can show it to your technical people. > -- Bruce Hershenson and the other 24 members of the eMoviePoster.com team P.O. Box 874 West Plains, MO 65775 Phone: 417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5 except from 12 to 1 when we take lunch) our site <http://www.emovieposter.com/> our auctions <http://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/all.html> <http://www.emovieposter.com/unused/signature/20111028Frankensteinemployeegroupphotosignature.jpg> Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
