[obol] MORE from the Moderators
- From: DJ Lauten and KACastelein <deweysage@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: OBOL <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 16:07:12 -0700
Folks,
This is a forwarded email from the Nevada Rare Bird Listserv. Alan does
a wonderful job explaining what is going on. If you are interested,
read on, otherwise delete because it is a bit long. This is what we are
dealing with, and we agree very much with Alan at the end: we loath
telling anyone to change their email address. We do not take heart in
doing so. We encourage you to think about what is best for yourself.
This may all work itself out, but we don't know.
Cheers
Dave Lauten
-------- Forwarded Message --------
*From*: NVBIRDS automatic digest system <LISTSERV@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:NVBIRDS%20automatic%20digest%20system%20%3cLISTSERV@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx%3e>>
*Reply-to*: discussion about Nevada's bird life <NVBIRDS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*To*: NVBIRDS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:NVBIRDS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject*: NVBIRDS Digest - 11 Apr 2014 to 12 Apr 2014 (#2014-86)
*Date*: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 00:00:31 -0400
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2014 10:06:26 -0700
From: Alan Wallace <wallacealan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:wallacealan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
Subject: From the moderator: update on listserv problems (long but important)
Hi everyone,
A major snafu in the email world has led to a third (~115) of us being
deleted from the Nevada bird listserv. This is far beyond just our
listserv, and the root problem, unfortunately, will persist. Yahoo.com has
implemented a new policy that is trying to put a stop to phishing attacks,
and many (but not all) of the major ISPs have had to adopt or cope with it.
PC World provided a more detailed summary of this change and its effect on
listservs, so read that if you want the gory details:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2141120/yahoo-email-antispoofing-policy-break
s-mailing-lists.html.
The bottom line is that any yahoo.com email (janedoe@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:janedoe@xxxxxxxxx> for example)
that passes through a second party (i.e., our listserv) gets blocked by
other internet service providers (ISPs) because it's not coming directly
from Yahoo. The ISP generates what's called an error message that is sent
to the listserv software. Most listservs, including the one that hosts our
list, have long deleted subscribers when the subscriber accumulates error
messages from their ISP over five or six days, or gets 10 error messages in
a shorter period of time. The listserv software is mainly trying to prevent
repeated phishing attacks on email accounts, as well as weeding out defunct
email addresses.
Quite a few subscribers to this list have yahoo.com email addresses and
regularly report sightings to the list. The new Yahoo policy did not go
into full effect until about April 5, and earlier yahoo.com postings did not
generate error messages. Starting April 5, the change kicked into gear and
began creating error messages as yahoo.com contributors sent in postings.
This has nothing to do with the listserv software, and everything to do with
how ISPs have dealt with this change in different ways. People who use
yahoo.com, msn.com, att.net, live.com, sbcglobal.net, comcast.com, and a few
others have been badly affected, and they rapidly accumulated error messages
and were deleted on April 10 (Thursday). People who use other ISPs (aol.com
and others) have not been affected because their ISP so far has not adopted
this policy (yet). As the PC World article and other things that I've read
have noted, some ISPs like gmail.com don't create an error message but
instead move all yahoo.com emails into the spam folder.
All of the companies that run listservs, including the L-Soft company that
runs our software, are up in arms about this (see the PC World article).
Yahoo.com might change its policy, but this problem will persist until a
workable compromise is reached. All of us will continue to get emails from
yahoo.com subscribers, which will result in more deletions and more need to
resubscribe (likely repeatedly for both).
Before this started, we had about 450 subscribers, and about 115 have been
deleted to date. A lot of the other 335 people use a very wide range of
other ISPs that haven't adopted these rules, so an email from
janedoe@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:janedoe@xxxxxxxxx> is just fine with those ISPs as
long as they don't adopt
the rules. Some of those 335 have ISPs that are using the Yahoo policy but
did not get deleted, and a quick check indicates that many of those people
get their postings in a digest format. Digests accumulate all of the day's
postings and send them as one package at the end of the day. Thus, even
though a digest may CONTAIN a posting from a yahoo.com person, the actual
digest comes directly FROM the listserv software and thus is OK: the
content of the email is not the problem, just the "From" line if it comes
from a yahoo.com account.
So, what to do? If you were not deleted, then you might be fine as long as
your ISP doesn't adopt this policy. If you did get deleted, then you likely
will be deleted again as more postings come in from yahoo.com addresses.
The workaround is to change your subscription to the digest format. To do
that:
***********************
Send an email toLISTSERV@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:LISTSERV@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
(note that this is different
from the address to send postings).
Leave the subject line blank.
In the body of the email, type (or cut/paste) SET NVBIRDS DIGEST
Do not have anything else in the body of the email, such as signatures or
canned stuff that your ISP might put in there.
Finally, send the email. You'll get a confirmation of the change.
***********************
I did that for my subscription yesterday morning. I received my digest at
9:01 last night, and it included the postings that came in after I switched.
One of those was from a yahoo.com subscriber. That posting triggered an
error message for the 15 people who resubscribed yesterday after being
deleted in the first round. Thus, the yahoo.com problem persists for them,
although they were not deleted again on the basis of just one posting on one
day. Significantly, I was deleted in the first round, but my switch to the
digest format kept me out of the second round, so making that change solved
the problem for me. If you need to see things more immediately, you can
still keep track of the sightings during the day through the ABA site
(http://birding.aba.org/) or on our own archive
(http://list.audubon.org/scripts/wa-AUDUBON.exe?A0=NVBIRDS). The digest
format does not change how you post sightings to the list: that remains
normal. So, if you get deleted, then resubscribe using the earlier
instructions and then change that to the digest format (two steps).
Regarding subscribers who have yahoo.com email addresses, I've seen
suggestions (PC World and other articles) encouraging those people to set up
a free second email account (gmail, for instance) for posting and receiving
listserv emails. For a lot of reasons, I am in no position to tell people
what to do, and I probably would be a little irked if I was a yahoo.com user
and was told that I had to add a new email address. What I do know is that
all yahoo.com postings will generate error messages for many subscribers for
the foreseeable future. Those affected subscribers, if they want to avoid
being deleted, should change to the digest format.
Fundamentally, this Yahoo thing affects a LOT of us in various ways, not
just the people who are getting deleted. We all want this listserv to
continue to provide us with lots of wonderful reports on the birds in
Nevada, and that continued success depends on us adapting to this issue in
the best possible way and continuing to report on the birds. I'll be
watching this to see what transpires. Let's hope for policy changes sooner
than later. Maybe the Chicago Cubs will win the World Series for the first
time since 1908. You never know.
Alan
****************************
Alan Wallace
Nevada bird listserv moderator
Reno NV
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