Re: weirdo warning

[rackow () mcs anl gov]

Oh the fun of problem users.  Does anyone remenber the "clueless" mailing list?
This was a list that allowed anyone to subscribe any address.  Mostly it
was mailing list managers who subscribed their problem users.  All the traffic
on the list was people bitching about not being able to get off the list.
The sad thing is that every message through the list had unsub instructions
attached to them.  You also got an unsub instruction message any time you
posted to the list.  Some people clearly could not learn.

On a more related case.  A long long time ago, a person subscribed to
a scientific mailing list hosted at a university.  The list was an
opt-in list where the user needed to send a subscription request,
get the reply, then acknowledge the request.   The list manager
software then sent how to unsubscribe.  Each message also included
details in the headers of the message on how to unsub. Unfortunately
the person who managed the mailing list didn't regularly read the list
so flamewars did happen, and in some cases were encouraged by the members.

After about 2 weeks, the user wanted off the list.  He didn't follow
any instructions sent to him.  The user appeared to get more and 
more upset about people telling him how to get off the list and
not doing it for him.  None of them really could do it for him as
the list software wouldn't let random people unsub others.

A student at scientific .gov site responded to the person with 
something like "Read the supplied instructions you f...ing moron". 
(note ... not the letters).
The user really lost it at that point.  He did a little homework
on the .gov site.  He sent email to the Director, CEO, CFO, and CIO.
He also contacted the Secretaries office as well as the Inspector Generals
Office.  He also hit several state legislaters offices.
He was upset that someone in the government was
1. using profanity
2. insulting him by calling him a moron.
3. was wasting tax payers dollars by doing all of this.

He printed the offending mail off, along with a cover letter
and sent it registered mail to many of the above.  The cover letter
included the statemens that he wasn't a moron and that in reality
he was a tree farmer in some souther state and owned land in several
others.  He paid taxes in all of them. 

The tree-farmer had also don't various searches on the students name
and found he had posted to a number of Usenet news groups as well,
mostly from his university account.  This just added to the furor
of this student wasting tax dollars.  Most of the groups were
of scientific nature, though one group was basicly a flamewar
group on a right wing political issue.

Talk about a nightmare to clean up.  A canned response was quickly
put together for any of those that questioned what was going on
showing the 50+ other people in various ways told this person how
to get off the mailing list. It also included several messages
of how the tree-farmer responses degenerated.

I'm really glad that is long over.   Until then I didn't realize how
much time, effort, and dollars someone would waste in an attempt
to prove their point and/or make life miserable for others.

--Gene

Gadi Evron made the following keystrokes:
> Gadi Evron wrote:
> > I'd remove him myself, but honestly, he is acting rather rudely and he 
> > should learn the difference between spam and double opt-in mailing 
> > lists. I am no longer willing to waste my time helping him. At least 
> > until I have time to handle his unsubscription myself, next week.
>
> So, I was just being cynical on the last one. As I wrote this I went to 
> try and unsubscribe him myself, and guess what I find out? He isn't 
> subscribed at all.
>
> My guess is that it's a forwarding issue, somewhere. Maybe he should 
> look at headers. Maybe someone is playing with him, or maybe one of his 
> co-workers left and his email is being forwarded to him. *shrug*
>
> Anyone willing to help this rude guy with email 101, and take him off my 
> hands?
>
>      Gadi.
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