ARCHIVED: At IU, what are the usage standards for LISTSERV?
Note: IU retired its LISTSERV system in spring 2012, replacing it with IU List, a new mailing list service. See What is IU List, and how do I use it?
UITS provides the following usage standards for all LISTSERV mailing lists and the LISTSERV server at Indiana University:
- In most cases, list members must consent to being on your
list(s). List owners must comply immediately with requests from
subscribers to be removed from lists. Exceptions to this rule include
cases where class instructors or IU offices use LISTSERV lists
comprised of, for example, students in a class, students of a
particular major, or staff in a particular department.
- Lists may not attempt to address the entire IU community, nor any
large group of individuals for which the list owner is not
administratively responsible. No mass unsolicited mailings are
allowed. Under no circumstances may addresses from IU
LISTSERV lists be compiled, collected, or used for any purpose,
commercial or non-commercial, other than mail regarding the topic of
the list. The copyright to the subscriber list in its entirety is held
by the list owner(s). None of a list's addresses may be used for mass
mailings (spam) or databases without the express
written permission of the individual subscriber. All lists are deemed
to be private, regardless of how the Review keyword is
configured.
- All lists must be owned or sponsored by an individual with an
active IU Network ID. By agreeing to own an IU LISTSERV
list, the owner assumes the responsibility of day-to-day monitoring
and operation of the list. It is the owner's job to ensure that the
list continues to run smoothly, that it adheres to university
policies, and that the stated objectives of the list are
followed. Also, the owner is expected to be the subscribers' contact
when problems or questions regarding LISTSERV arise.
- By default, all new IU LISTSERV lists are created with a send
policy of
Send= Private. This means only those subscribed to the list may post to the list.Note: UITS strongly recommends using either
Send= Private,ConfirmorSend= Editor,Hold,Confirmin your list configuration. For more, see ARCHIVED: On my LISTSERV list, what does the Send keyword do, and what are the possible settings? and ARCHIVED: On my LISTSERV list, what security settings are available? - A "-L" suffix will be added to all IU list names (e.g.,
NT-DEMO-L). LISTSERV administrators reserve the right to name lists appropriately.
- List names may contain only the letters A through Z, the numbers 0
through 9, and a hyphen. List names may contain up to 32 characters,
but UITS strongly recommends that you keep the name within the range
of 8 to 12 characters.
- Subscribers agree to hold UITS and the list owners harmless for
any opinions expressed on a LISTSERV mailing list. Opinions stated do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of IU, UITS, or the list
owners.
- List owners are expected to state the specific purpose and
participation guidelines of their lists in a welcome message to new
subscribers; see ARCHIVED: On my LISTSERV list, how do I create welcome and farewell messages? Subscribers will
receive at least one warning from the list owner when their postings
fall outside the stated guidelines. If a subscriber continues to post
inappropriately, the list owner may remove or moderate the subscriber
at the owner's discretion.
Complaints about the nature or requirements of guidelines established for a specific list should be discussed with the list owner. The University Information Policy Office is available should the list owner need advice, suggestions, or assistance regarding establishing appropriate guidelines.
- The copyright to an individual posting made to any IU LISTSERV
list is held by the individual poster. The copyright to the
compilation of postings to any IU LISTSERV list is held by the primary
list owner or sponsor. Redistribution of the postings made to an IU
list without the express written permission of the list owner is
forbidden. All redistribution must include the original mail headers
crediting the source of the material.
- To be valid, any request for redistribution of individual list postings, or any compilation of postings, must receive explicit approval from the copyright holder. Lack of response to a request is not considered an implied agreement.
Last modified on June 11, 2012.







