[Leica] LUG mail being blocked by bad ISPs, some people auto-unsubscribed

[reid at mejac.palo-alto.ca.us (Brian Reid)]

A bunch of LUG subscribers have been auto-unsubscribed because of a lazy 
ideologue in Merrimack New Hampshire named Rik van Riel. Rik believes that 
he 
has the only solution to the spam detection problem, and unfortunately a few 
ISPs believe him.  Responsible ISPs use dozens upon dozens of factors to 
classify something as spam. Since van Riel doesn't charge for his 
spam-finding 
service, cheapo ISPs will sometimes use it and only it. When van Riel's spam 
detectors make a mistake (which he, of course, believes is not possible) 
then 
mail stops getting delivered to the customers of the ISPs that depend on his 
free service.

If you are one of the people whose LUG subscription went away, you can think 
bad thoughts about Rik van Riel. Ideologues like him rarely change their 
position as a result of argument from other people, so there is no point 
trying to yell at him or reason with him. In a certain sense the real 
villains 
are the owners of the ISPs that are too cheap to buy real commercial 
spam-blocking service, which requires human participation and is therefore 
not 
free.

The only viable long-term solution to false-positive spam nightmares is to 
find a responsible ISP. Cheapo ISPs are going to use cheapo spam-control 
companies, who invariably lock onto free services run by ideologues.

If you are one of the victims, you of course aren't getting this email, but 
you might see it on the website or you might get a copy forwarded from a 
friend.