Administrivia: Article Announcements and List Sponsorship

[Stephen Entwisle <se () securityfocus com>]

Hey Folks,

First, I just wanted to take a moment to update you on the discussion we
were having last week about the SecurityFocus article announcements. First
of all, let me thank all of you who e-mailed me with your feedback. If
there was ever any doubt about the commitment of Security-Basics
subscribers to the well-being of the list, this discussion alleviated them
pretty soundly. As for the results of that discussion: the overwhelming
majority of respondents made it clear that they like the SecurityFocus
article announcements just as they are. The one caveat being that many
people requested a consistent subject header so that the messages can be
filtered if the user so desires. So, I will continue to post SecurityFocus
article announcements to the list with the subject header "SecurityFocus
Article Announcement" (without the quotes).

Second, you may have noticed that Security-Basics messages now contain
short text advertisements at the bottom of the message. It has emerged
over the past few months that if SecurityFocus is to continue to provide
the many cost-free services it currently offers, that it must become
financially self-sufficient. This does not mean that the SecurityFocus Web
site, and its associated services, is going to become profit driven;
however, it does mean that we will have to generate enough revenue to
sustain our operations.

With this in mind, we have started to offer sponsorship of five of our
mailing lists, including Security-Basics. We will do this in such a way
that the sponsorship does not intrude upon the delivery, readability, or
integrity of Security-Basics messages and discussions. We will only offer
sponsorship to security-related vendors. Perhaps most importantly, I want
to stress that the sponsorship will not affect any decisions regarding the
moderation of the lists, specifically what topics will be discussed and
how. With the exception of the inclusion of a brief (3-4 line) text
message at the bottom of each list message, there will no changes in the
way Security-Basics operates.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me
directly.

Thanks,

Stephen Entwisle
Moderator, Security-Basics
SecurityFocus
http://www.securityfocus.com
(403) 213 3939 ext. 235


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