From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 93 21:42:33 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: HABRECHT=EMAIL HARASSEMENT
Message-ID: <9303120541.AA23327@netcom.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


<<PLEASE FOLKS! Don't "mail-bomb" this or any other list with humongous
files!!>>

Michael Brennan writes:

>Hopefully my subject line got someone's attention.
>I just received a 3K file in my mailbox from George A. Habrecht with
>lines repeating over and over "Please unsusbcribe me!!!" Perhaps many
>of you simply deleted it without even noticing what the mail said. But you
>should all take note that the cypherpunks list is starting to piss off
> a lot of people who would be supportive of what you are doing if not
>for the huge volumes of unwanted mail.
            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
(My mail reader said nearly 80 kilobyes...perhaps your figure was in _lines_?)

I don't know what the delay has been in unsubscribing people. As always,
send requests to the list maintenance address,
"cypherpunks-request@toad.com". The list manager, Eric Hughes
(hughes@soda.berkelely.edu), has been away at the CFP conference this
week...perhaps this is part of the delay.

In any case, the 80 KB (according to my mail reader, Eudora) file was sent
by George Habrecht, and was not "caused" by Eric Hughes, nor was it caused
by "the cypherpunks list." So lighten up on this point, will ya?

>Loading up peoples mailboxes with unwanted mail is IRRESPONSIBLE!
>Is this what cypherpunks wants to become known for on the net? It's really

>Don't any of you cypherpunks think that maybe sending huge volumes of
>unwanted mail to people is innappropriate? Don't you think that maybe
>someone should get their act together and rectify this situation?!!!

Huh? Like I said, it was Mr. Habrecht who sent the "huge volumes of
unwanted mail" and not the Cypherpunks list (unless you're advocating that
someone screen postings for content and length?). So if you're angry at
getting an 80 K file, be angry at Habrecht. His frustration at having to
wait some extra time to get off the list is no excuse for mail-bombing a
couple of hundred people!

The average Cypherpunks message is about 3 KB, or about 4% of Habrecht's
message. With about 25 Cypherpunks messages a day (I'm guessing), Habrecht
equalled the average list volume in his angry action. If there are 200
subscribers, then he caused roughly "200 list-days" of mail to go out to
readers...all because he couldn't get off the list exactly when he gave the
order!

As for the average mail volume...well, it is fairly light compared to some
other mailing lists. And it is not the list manager who determines the
volume, it is of course the list members. The list software simply
"reflects" incoming messages to the distribution list...if people write a
lot, a lot goes out. Q.E.D.

As Sinbad O'Connor would put it: "Know the real enemy."

-Tim May

P.S. What I did was to _reply_ to Mr. Habrecht, explaining the situation. I
attached my reply to a *quoted copy* of his message AND MAILED IT BACK TO
HIM! (Actually, my mailer splits incoming messages into 24 KB pieces, so I
only mailed one of these back to him....he got off lucky. If several more
people do this, he'll think twice about mail-bambing a list again.)

--
Timothy C. May               | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com        | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409               | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA       | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: MailSafe and PGP available.