Removing the from addresses is, I hope, not going to be done for a variety of reasons - partially because once in awhile I do need to connect to someone on the list, and sending a message to the list of 2k+ just to find out how to contact someone is terribly inefficient. I'm sure you would rail against the proliferation of, "Does anyone know how to contact Vijay?" "Vijay who?" "Oh, there was more than one on the list? Let me find the message..." type messages. The problem you are experiencing is minor compared to the problem that would be caused by the fix you propose. Like many others I have a piclist email account that is used only for the piclist. I get a very, very small amount of spam, so I'll be very curious what results you get on your test. I have spam management (google) so I never see the spam, but in general I have the list sorted into EE, OT, PIC, Other, and Not Piclist. Everything not sent from the piclist server goes into Not Piclist, and I check it occasionally for messages from piclisters sent directly. If my spam filtering didn't work, then that would go in there as well, but even that box only contains direct messages to me. I see maybe one or two spam a year that the filtering doesn't automatically manage. I believe that anyone who expects to be able to use email without the blight of spam is deluding themselves. Removing From: breaks too many things for not enough benefit, especially as spam filtering has gotten so good. Although, I understand there are those reluctant to change their email procedures and processes, and may not be able to take advantage of such filtering capabilities - but to ask the entire list to bend over so a few people can avoid moving to better technology is short sighted. -Adam On Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 2:24 PM, Olin Lathrop wr= ote: > Sorry this is in TECH, but it's definitely not PIC or EE and it doesn't s= eem > right that you have to open the flood gates of OT to talk about legitimate > list logistic issues. =A0Personally I think there should be a LIST tag, b= ut > since there isn't, we're left with TECH. =A0Or is that what ADMIN is for? > It's never been clear to me whether ADMIN is only for messages generated = by > admins, or whether it is for anyone discussing list administration issue. > In case the former, I'll stick to TECH for now. > > Anyway, I've been getting increasing amounts of spam to my PIClist email > account. =A0I use a different address for the PIClist partly to avoid such > problems, but since the PIClist has been logged at various sites everyone= 's > PIClist email address is out there for spammers to harvest. =A0So the que= stion > is, can the server be set up to remove the FROM: address from messages and > possibly substitute the list address? =A0Replies to PIClist messages shou= ld go > to the list anyway. =A0If your mail address never appears in a message > distributed by the server, then it won't matter how widely it gets > distributed. =A0Does the server have this capability? =A0If so, is there a > reason not to use it? =A0I expect this isn't the first time this issue has > come up on a mailing list. > > Maybe I'll try a experiment. =A0I'll make up a totally new email address,= use > it exclusively for sending to the PIClist, and never otherwise give it ou= t. > I will be interesting to see how long it takes to get the first spam and = how > quickly it ramps up. =A0I'll log the number of spam messages a day and sh= ow > the results once a reasonable amount of data has been collected. =A0It may > take a day or two before I do it because I've got stuff to get done right > now, and I have to go digging in some very old dusty control files to cha= nge > everything. > > > ******************************************************************** > Embed Inc, Littleton Massachusetts, http://www.embedinc.com/products > (978) 742-9014. =A0Gold level PIC consultants since 2000. > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- = http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist