Administrivia: Article Announcements and List Sponsorship

From: Stephen Entwisle <se(at)securityfocus.com>
Date: Tue Apr 01 2003 - 12:02:58 EST

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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