From: merce@xenitec.on.ca (Jim Mercer)
Subject: MBAS resurgence
Organization: The Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto, CANADA
Distribution: can
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 22:48:00 GMT

it seems that there is a resurgence of MBAS (Mail Based Archive Server)
traffic flowing over our links.

in order to head off what could be another nasty bout of nuking mail queues,
i would like to remind sysadm's to advise their users of the polite ways
to get files from archive sites.

currently, i am turning on the scanner scripts to email me about multiple
messages over a certain size.  if things don't get better, i will have to
turn on the auto-nuker which replaces uuencoded contents with:
"Contents removed at lsuc.on.ca  -- File transfer by email is evil"
(this of course can only be implemented by delaying the deliver of mail,
and adding extra processing to mail delivery)

lsuc's usenet machine maintains links with 60+ other hosts in the toronto area.

this is being done by a 386SX with 4 meg o' RAM running SysV R4.
(hence the reason we don't run news, and i am posting from another host)

email connectivity in the uucp world is largely a cooperative thing.

if your users are not polite, and lose respect for what the uucpNET is, the
uucpNET could lose valuable links, hence making connectivity a much more
complicated and costly thing.

my philosophy here is that file transfer by email is evil.

we have had our systems swamped by BITFTP's on several occasions.

in the past i have gotten militant about MBAS, and i fear i may have to again.

so please, if you have new users, who decide to explore the electronic world,
at least give them some guidelines so that they are courteous and neighbourly.

and just so you can see what makes me militant, i will close with this snippet
of email that i received from someone who i asked not to send files through
our links:

-----------------------
From: [ name withheld as justice has been served on them ]
To: jim@cai.lsuc.on.ca
Cc: [ interesting mix of postmaster addr's and obviously a list of buddies
      for bragging purposes ]
Subject: bad idea [ my original subject, hmmm, no Re: ]

> your ... email ... xbattle shar files ... have been nuked at lsuc.on.ca.
                                                      =====     ===
> file transfer by email is evil.
                            ====
> please supply me with your home phone numbers so that  you can come in
                             ==================
> and clean  up  after some  bonehead  orders the  X   sources  from  an
                             ========
> FTP-by-mail server and washes out our spool disk.
                         =========================
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

		                 ___
				/| |\
				| - |
				|   |
				|< >|
			 _   __ |   | __  __
			\  \/  \|   |/  \/  \
			/  /                 |
		       |                     |
		       |                     |
		       \                     /
			-___________________-

What a rude bastard you are!  And full  of shit too!  We re-routed the
"offending" email through  a  friendlier system  to bypass your smelly
node of the network that is apparantly so badly managed that the spool
disk washes out  every other week.   You are  a small minded  ignorant
opinionated mean and nasty piece of work, and I take great pleasure in
the thought that some day you will get your just deserts when you spit
your venom  a little  closer  to home  where someone   will be able to
straighten you out personally!

My home phone number is (xxx) xxx-xxxx

>>> if you have the BALLS to call! <<<
    ==============================

----------------------------

note: the second set of messages came through us as well, and were also nuked.

note: i did call his home, and left a message with his wife.  8^)

[ Jim Mercer  jim@lsuc.On.Ca  || ...!uunet!uunet.ca!lsuc!jim  +1 416 947-5258 ]
[ Systems and Communications Analyst - Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto   ]
[ Standards are great. They give non-conformists something to not conform to. ]
[      The opinions expressed here may or may not be those of my employer     ]
-- 
[ Jim Mercer   Reptilian Research  merce@iguana.reptiles.org  +1 519 893-6085 ]
[             I don't want to work for a company that has a CIO.              ]
[              Disclaimer! I don't need no stinking Disclaimer!               ]