Re: RC: bumped from list?

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@naisp.net>]

At 06:00 AM 9/18/01 -0500, you wrote:
>I have a friend who has just been bumped off Ridecamp.  She doesn't post
>much, just lurks.  The reason given was too many bounced back messages. 
>She is on AOL, which I think might be the problem.  Has anyone else had a
>problem or know someone who has had a problem?
>
>
>Rae
>Tall C Arabians - SE TX

When I was running a listserve for Morgans four years ago, AOL was
*chronic* problem with bounced messages.  But I was under the impression
they had cleaned up their act and were no longer a problem.

First, ask whoever told you it was because of "too many bounced
back messages" to show you the bounce message.  There are
different reasons for bounces, and the bouncing system is
usually pretty good at clueing you in to what the problem really is.

The main reasons for bounces are:

 - The receiving system is just too busy.  This is where you get
   a "connection timed out" message in the bounce.  Yell at AOL;
   they don't have enough equipment to handle the load, or are
   having transient problems with load (some system outage or
   an unusual spike in traffic--perhaps due to the WTC).

 - The receiving system has some sort of screen software for spam.
   Too many messages in too short a time from the same sending address
   are interpreted as "spam" and bounced back to the sender.
   (Actually, they are often just dropped on the floor.)
   - This may be a system-wide screen, or
   - It could be that your friend has her individual profile set
     up in such a way that it is interpreting the traffic from
     Ridecamp as spam, or in some other way undesireable.

   Once you get the bounce message, talk to AOL Customer Support. 

 - Your friend changed her username on AOL without telling Ridecamp.
   The bounce message will say "unknown user."

Those are the big ones.  Again, get John or whoever's holding down
the Ridecamp fort to show you the bounce message.  Even if they
are using automatic bounce-counter software (most listserves let
the administrator set a bounce limit), most bounce messages are
written to a log file somewhere.  Even if they aren't, they should be
able to reinstate your friend and then manually monitor for awhile
to see what's going on.

Linda B. Merims
lbm@naisp.net
Massachusetts, USA