Posting
Guidelines for the TCPA Email Discussion Lists
These
guidelines have been compiled with the goal of maximizing
the benefit of our TCPA litigation discussion lists. Many
of the guidelines here are applicable to many (if not most)
other online discussion forums.
Users
who fail to follow these guidelines may find their posting
status changed to "moderated" - meaning that all
of their posts must await moderator approval, which can
result in considerable delays in posting (as well as creating
additional work for the moderators). Thank you for doing
your part to honor these guidelines and for taking the time
to review these guidelines periodically!
Please
address any specific questions to the respective list moderators:
prerecord-l-owner
(at) do-not-call.com
junkfax-l-owner (at) junkfaxes.org
Last
Revised October 1, 2006
Table
of Contents
**
NEW **
By default, replies now go to the message sender.
** NEW **
Unlike past behavior,
the mailing lists are now configured so that when you click
to reply to a list message, your reply will be addressed
to the individual message poster's email address. You
will now need to change the To: line in your reply message
to the list submission address (see below) if your reply
is intended for the mailing list.
This change
is effective for messages posted after the evening of October
1.
We don't want
to discourage discussion, but...
- we want to
help prevent private replies from accidentally being broadcast
to the public list
- we want to
keep things from getting too chatty with messages that
are irrelevant or inappropriate for the entire list
- having replies
default to the individual poster is widely considered
to be a "best practice" for email discussion
lists.
Before you send
your reply to the mailing list (or a post on a new topic,
for that matter) - please ask yourself if your message is
something that really ought to be transmitted to the entire
list membership.
For example,
if your message is something along the lines of a remark
or quip that doesn't materially advance the discussion,
consider replying just to the poster, perhaps also copying
other people who have participated in the discussion.
If, after proper
reflection, you determine that your message should indeed
go to the entire list membership, you will need to manually
change the To: field to the appropriate mailing list address
after you click to reply:
prerecord-l
(at) do-not-call.com
or
junkfax-l (at) junkfaxes.org
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POST
IN PLAIN TEXT - NOT HTML
TIP:
All messages must be in plain text format. Messages sent
in HTML (web page) format or with attachments are automatically
rejected by the list management software.
WHY?
HTML messages can be up to three times the size of the same
message sent in plain-text format, and display as "garbage"
to users who do not have (or choose not to enable) HTML-capable
display in their email software.
If you submit
a message and it is "bounced" with a notice that
the content is disallowed, this is most likely the problem.
Consult the
help facility for your email software for information on
sending messages in plain text format.
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MESSAGE SIZE LIMITATION - NO FILE ATTACHMENTS
TIP:
Messages are generally limited to 40,000 bytes and cannot
include file attachments regardless of size
WHY?
Some list members use dial-up modems, PDAs, or other slower
Internet connections, or are billed by the kilobyte. Large
file
attachments, if allowed, would be retransmitted to hundreds
of list members (many of whom may not be interested in the
attachment)
creating a large burden on our servers as well as individual
list subscribers.
There is rarely
an occasion for a standard text message to exceed 40,000
bytes. When replying to another message, your email software
will usually quote the entire message you are responding
to into your new reply message. Be sure to "trim"
(delete) the original message headers and footers, and non-relevant
parts of the message (see the discussion
below).
Messages that
are larger than 40,000 bytes (but are otherwise in plain-text
format and do not include attachments) will be held for
moderator approval. If a moderator deems the message appropriate,
it will go through to the list, but there will be a delay
while it awaits approval.
TIP: If you have a non-text document (e.g.
PDF file or graphic image) that you want to share with the
list membership, you can describe the file in your message
and do one of two things:
- Offer to email
the file directly to those who email you (directly, off-list)
to request it.
- Upload the
file to a web server and post the link to the document
in your message.
If you do not have access to a web server, contact list
moderator Robert Braver at rbraver (at) ohww.norman.ok.us
who can arrange to host a document for you and provide
a link that you can reference in your message.
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"CHALLENGE-RESPONSE" AND
OTHER AUTO-RESPONDERS
TIP:
Some ISPs and third-party services offer spam prevention
services that force email correspondents to click on a link
or perform some other validation in order to allow email
messages through to a subscriber. Such systems are not "compatible"
with mailing lists.
WHY?
The management of this mailing list and many other anti-abuse
experts strongly discourage such systems in general due
to the many inherent problems with them, including shifting
the burden of a user's spam filtering to his or her correspondents
as well as
innocent victims whose email addresses are forged as the
"from" address in spam.
Specifically,
if you have a system that automatically responds to list
messages with a challenge/confirmation email, the challenge/confirmation
will, obviously, never occur. You won't get messages, and
the mailing list will likely stop attempting to send
messages and eventually unsubscribe you as the challenges/autoresponses
will be perceived as bounces.
Also, if the
list administrators need to contact you about a list issue
or respond to a query, you will not see these messages if
your
system requires a challenge-response or confirmation from
the sender.
Likewise, we
don't recommend "out of office" or "vacation"
autoreplies due to inherent problems, such as responding
to each
list message with such an autoreply. If a problem occurs,
the list management will have no choice but to remove the
problem user from
the list.
If you choose
to use a challenge-response system, it is your responsibility
to ensure that messages coming through the mailing
list system or list administrators are "whitelisted"
so as to go through without triggering challenge/confirmation
messages.
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POSTING NEW MESSAGES AND REPLIES
TIP:
Please don't post a message to the list on a new topic by
replying to an existing list message (and then editing the
subject).
WHY?
Many email programs can display messages in threaded format
(grouped by topic). When you reply to a message, special
headers are included which identify your message as a reply
to other message(s), regardless of what you may change the
subject line to. As a result, your message on a new topic
will appear to many users as being part of the unrelated
discussion that you replied to. This is an irritant to other
users and may result in your message never being seen by
users who are not interested in the original topic and are
skipping over those messages.
TIP:
When posting a new message, please include a descriptive
subject line. Never manually ad "Re:" or "[Junkfax-l]"
as part of
the subject line.
WHY?
"Re:" is automatically added by email software
when you reply to a message, and means that the message
is a reply to a previous message with the same subject.
If you post a new message topic with "Re:" added,
some list users will be searching in vain for the nonexistent
message you appear to be responding to. List members may
also skip over your message if they are only skimming their
mail folder for new topics and passing over replies.
The "[Junkfax-l]"
(or "[Prerecord-l]") tag is automatically added
by the list software to allow for easy identification of
list messages and/or automatic sorting into email folders.
There is no need to manually add it to a new list message.
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TRIM
YOUR REPLIES
TIP:
When replying to a list message, your email software will
usually "quote" the entire message you are replying
to and insert it into your message editor window. Please
delete all of the quoted text except for the specific part(s)
you are responding to.
WHY?
It is considered good form to "trim" all extraneous
quoted headers, footers, and text from your replies. This
avoids clutter, reduces network traffic for everyone, and
helps to make clear what specific comments you are responding
to.
Most email programs
will (or can be configured to) add a line to your replies
referencing the original message author and date, which
is helpful.
When replying,
your messages might follow this form:
On January 1, 2000, Joe Listmember wrote:
> Just the specific parts of Joe's message that you are replying to, with all
> other headers, footers, and other "garbage" removed.
Your reply to Joe's message.
...
...
--
Jane Listmember
jane@examp|edomain.com
If you're giving
a point-by-point response to someone's message, then an
acceptable form is to "interlineate" your comments
along with the original message, which looks something like
this:
On January 1, 2000, Joe Listmember wrote:
> Just the specific parts of Joe's message that you are replying to, with all
> other headers, footers, and other "garbage" removed.
Your reply to Joe's message.
> Another point that Joe made
Your response
> Yet another statement from Joe.
Your thoughtful and relevant comments.
> Etc.
Etc.
.
--
Jane Listmember
jane@examp|edomain.com
Keep in mind
these are examples, not hard and fast rules. Regardless,
the main point is to edit out all of the extraneous stuff
and include only enough of the original message as necessary
(which may very well be the whole message).
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KEEP
IT PROFESSIONAL - AVOID PERSONAL ATTACKS
TIP:
While disagreements are inevitable in any group and diverse
opinions are perfectly fine, please keep list discussions
professional and avoid personal attacks.
WHY?
Hundreds of users subscribe to this list, including state
law enforcement officials, busy attorneys, and others who
would prefer
not to deal with unpleasantness and excessive list traffic.
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DON'T
REPORT LIST MESSAGES AS SPAM
TIP:
Many ISPs have buttons or other mechanisms that allow you
to report a message in your mailbox as spam. This should
never be done with respect to a message sent through our
mailing lists. This happens from time-to-time, and is most
likely an innocent mistake whereby someone uses their "spam"
button in lieu of deleting older messages, or perhaps in
a misguided attempt to filter-out list messages sent by
certain other list members.
WHY?
Spam refers to unsolicited email messages, usually
commercial in nature or sent in bulk. It is never appropriate
to report any list message as spam. This is a confirmed
opt-in mailing list, meaning each and every list member
had to input an email address and agree to specific terms
in order to subscribe, and then respond to a confirmation
email message before actually being added to the list. In
other words, you agreed to receive messages from the list
(unless and until such time that you unsubscribe). Therefore,
by definition, any messages from the list are not spam.
Reporting
list messages as spam:
- often results
in a report/complaint being generated and sent to the
lists' hosting provider.
- reflects negatively
on the reputation of the list hosting provider (not the
author of the message).
If you are having
problems with posts from a specific list member, please
contact the appropriate list moderators
or set up a filter in your email program to discard messages
from specific recipient(s) if you feel you must.
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MISCELLANEOUS
& COMMON-SENSE STUFF
- If you have
questions or problems about the mailing list system itself,
please address your queries to the appropriate list administrator(s)
(as opposed to broadcasting a message to the entire list
membership):
prerecord-l-owner
(at) do-not-call.com
or
junkfax-l-owner (at) junkfaxes.org
- To unsubscribe
from the list, send a message to the proper list address
below with the word "unsubscribe"
as the subject line:
prerecord-l-request
(at) do-not-call.com
or
junkfax-l-request (at) junkfaxes.org
- There are
no list archives kept, and we ask that users not keep
archives, so it is expected that people, epecially newer
list members, will ask about issues that have come up
and been discussed before.
REMINDER
- LIST SUBSCRIPTION TERMS & CONDITIONS
The servers that
operate the prerecord-l and junkfax-l mailing lists are
protected computer systems involved in interstate communications
as defined at 18 USC § 1030.
Any implied consent
to access these lists is hereby revoked and further access
to this/these list(s) will be considered trespass and an
illegal access of this computer system, if:
- you are, are
employed by, or you represent in any capacity, any person
or entity who engages in any form of outbound telemarketing,
including the sending of facsimile advertisements;
- you are, are
employed by, or you represent in any capacity, any person
or entity which engages in or manufacturers equipment
to facilitate outbound telemarketing or the sending of
facsimile advertisements;
- you provide
any false information in this sign-up form.
List members
must agree to the following terms:
- You agree
not to archive any list messages, or allow list messages
to be publicly archived
- You will keep
list messages confidential.
- You will keep
list members' names and e-mail addresses confidential.
The prerecord-l
and junkfax-l mailing lists are not intended or offered
as legal advice. Messages on this list consist of user-contributed
information and discussion among litigants as an intellectual
exercise, to hone their own skills, and for their own use
in their own cases. The maintainers of this list do not
endorse the use, efficacy, or veracity of any information
dispensed.
It is understood
that nothing on this list will be construed as legal advice,
as no attorney-client relationship can be formed and no
legal advice can be given except by an attorney licensed
in your jurisdiction with whom you have entered into a representation
agreement.
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