Theodore Tso wrote:
On Mon, Jul 30, 2001 at 08:17:48AM -0700, Mark Durham wrote: I'm doing
the same. This is situation is absurd, and an embarrassment to the
IETF. Those I've mentioned it to (some of whom are *very* active in
WGs) just shook their heads in amazement.
Personally, I'd say it's an embarassment to *Microsoft*. Let's
allocate blame where it properly belongs. They were the ones who made
the mail reader which made these sorts of viruses possible....
- Ted
Well, yes, and point taken. For that matter, you can take it even further
upstream and blame Satan for all the world's evils, thereby washing your
hands of the whole mess. Obviously, Redmond is ultimately culpable here
(along with those who exploit their little loopholes); and, on the
downstream side, list subscribers must ultimately watch out for their own
interests. But moral superiority and libertarian ethics aside, the list
manager seems to be in an excellent position to solve this problem. Still,
if that's an unacceptable infringement of recipients' autonomy, so be it.
Some people make a strong argument for running an open relay, too (though
I don't buy that one either).
In any case, "embarrassment" was probably the wrong word, though I still
think "absurd" fits.
But I do agree re: Microsoft. And my apologies for being so ill-tempered.