[GBlist] Message from our host

[Nadav Malin <nadav@BuildingGreen.com>]

Hi folks, I'm forwarding this message from our hosts at REPP/CREST:


To all Green Building List subscribers,

Hello,

My name is Tayleah Jones and I am the Internet and publications 
manager for REPP-CREST. REPP-CREST is the organization that hosts the 
Green BUilding and many other discussion lists, including bioenergy, 
gasification and strawbale construction.

I just wanted to clarify a few points about what was happening with 
the discussion lists last week.

The problem started with spam. Thankfully, none of the discussion 
lists specifically hosted by CREST, including Green Building, have 
been subject to actual spamming. However, a different list hosted by 
our vendor on the same server WAS "spammed." This incident caused the 
ENTIRE mail server to be "black holed" by a number of ISP's--not just 
one discussion list (unfortunately!).

Being "black holed" meant that certain ISP servers would not accept 
mailmessages from the server being used by crest.org/the Green 
Building discussion list. Hence the bounced messages, the confusing 
"probe" messages, and the automatic removal of some subscribers--a 
measure the mailing list software takes automatically rather than 
filling all the other subscriber's mail boxes with bounced messages.

It did take some time to track down the problem and we apologize that 
REPP-CREST was not able to inform you more quickly of what exactly 
was happening. Our vendor has since contacted the ISP's and 
Mail-Abuse.org (an organization that monitors spamming) and the 
situation has been remedied.

Since our vendor has taken definitive steps to prevent this from 
happening again, the entire server has been removed from the RSS list 
maintained by Mail-abuse.org. And, while there may still be a brief 
period of adjustment while the correction circulates our vendor 
assures us that this will not be a problem in the future.

We apologize for any inconvenience or uncertainty you may have 
experienced. We value your privacy and are working to ensure that all 
of our discussion lists remain well protected. We appreciate your 
contributions to this list and the community it represents. We hope 
you will all continue to share your thoughts here and continue to 
build this valuable resource. Thank you for your patience and concern.

Sincerely,

--Tayleah Jones
Internet and publications manager, REPP-CREST

-- 
Tayleah L. Jones, Internet and Publications Manager
Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP)
Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST)
1612 K St, NW #202, Washington, DC 20006
202.293.2898; Fax: 202.293.5857
www.repp.org and www.crest.org

______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
______________________________________________________________________