Problems with automatic (\"answering machine\") mail responders

[lauren at rand-unix.ARPA]

Lately we've seen increasing use of automated mail responders to send
out messages replying to incoming mail when the addressee is out
of town or otherwise unable to login for awhile.  While these may
serve a useful purpose in many cases by informing the person sending
the original message that there won't be a real immediate response,
they can cause substantial problems with mailing lists.

For example, in some cases, the individual addressing mail to mailing
lists may be bombarded with such automated messages from all over
the nets.  List maintainers may be similarly inundated.  As the use
of these automated mechanisms spreads, the problem is bound to
get worse.

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage anyone designing
or working with such automatic response programs to ALWAYS include
facilities for an "exception list" of originating points to which
automatic messages will NOT be sent.  These should probably be
specified at both the system-wide and individual level.  The code
used to detect these exceptions should be smart enough to tell the
difference between a true message from an individual and one that
has an individual on the From: line but was actually re-sent or
otherwise forwarded via a list.

Efforts put into dealing with this situation now could avoid
a lot of problems down the line!

--Lauren--