I maintain and administer the PODC mailing list.  All postings to the
mailing list ([log in to unmask]) come to me for approval.  I approve only a
small minority of the messages that are sent to the mailing list.  I
discard the rest (mostly spam, some duplicate postings) without approval.

Mail to the PODC mailing list is distributed via the listserv program on
the ACM's servers.  Periodically, these servers get listed on
independent computers that maintain lists of sites that forward spam
(e.g., spamcop).  When this happens, mail sent to the mailing list fails
to reach a large number of subscribers whose mail servers filter
messages based on these spam lists (in addition, I get "bounce" messages
for each of these subscribers).

The ACM's servers get on these spam lists because people receiving mail
sent via these servers report the mail as spam.  (Sometimes this is done
through mail clients that allow this reporting.)  This might not just be
for mail sent to the PODC mailing list.  It could also be the case for
mail sent to other ACM-maintained mailing lists or for other mail
generated from the ACM (e.g., renewal notices).

If you are not satisfied with the mail going to the PODC mailing list
(or to other mailing lists maintained by the ACM), please feel free to
contact me (or the administrators of other mailing lists).  I do my best 
to shield the mailing list from irrelevant mail.

However, I do allow through a lot of mail that I feel is of marginal 
relevance to the mailing list.  I asked at the last PODC Business 
Meeting whether I should more strictly limit the mail going through, and 
the consensus was that the messages and the overall quantity coming 
through was acceptable.

					- Gil Neiger