administrivia: blocking rodd sidney

[Richard Welty <rwelty@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

some of you have been around the list for a very long time, long enough to
be aware that there is a longstanding issue with respect to rodd sidney's
use of the bmw-digest as an advertising venue.

i put considerable effort into attempting to educate rodd in proper use of
the digest. at various times, it seemed like progress was being made, but
then rodd would send out one of his long advertisements, after i'd told him
not to, and it'd seem like we were back to square one. at one time, rodd
actually signed on as an advertiser, but he contined to post extended ads
to the list in violation of policy. when his paid ad ran out, i felt that
enough was enough, but i couldn't keep him off the list -- i didn't have
the tools to deal with it. i have, somewhere deep in my oversized inbox, a
message from Phil Marx (cc'd to me) which wondered if i gave a damn. well,
i always have, but there have been times when i've been frustrated by lack
of time and lack of proper technology.

this is a more profound issue than you realize. paid, controlled
advertising, which i plan to start developing again, is a good venue for
supporting the list -- but if people like Rodd can post ads without paying,
then our potential paying advertisers have to wonder what the potential
value is to them, since obviously they don't need to pay to get exposure
similar to Rodd's.

the new server, for all its limitations, has a copy of majordomo with good
filtering. that last rodd message came at an opportune moment -- and i've
installed a rodd sidney filter.

cheers,
  richard

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