At IU, what are the usage standards for LISTSERV?

UITS provides the following usage standards applying to 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 to requests from subscribers to be removed from lists. Class instructors or IU offices may use LISTSERV lists comprising, for example, students in a class, students of a particular major, or staff in a particular department. In such cases, a request to be removed from a LISTSERV list need not be honored by the list owner.
  
  
• 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 a valid 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,Confirm or Send= Editor,Hold,Confirm in your list configuration. For more information on the Send keyword, see On my LISTSERV list, what does the Send keyword do, and what are the possible settings? For suggestions on protecting your list, see 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. For instructions, see 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 (UIPO;  uipo@iu.edu ) 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 shall not be considered an implied agreement.
  
  
• Each spring, IU LISTSERV list owners will receive a renewal notice via email. To renew a list, the owner must reply to the message by the date specified, or the list will be removed from the system.

Also see:

• What is IU's policy concerning mass mailing via email?
• What is UITS policy on surveys via email?