Various people have, in the past, innocently activated an auto-reply mail
script (autoreply, autoanswer, read acknowledgement, vacation script, etc).
While the process is well-intentioned, the results are not.  If you insist
on using such scripts, please insure that your particular script is extremely
RFC compliant (sending the message to the proper place), and doesn't do any
duplicate replies (should only answer a given address once), and hopefully
can filter out List-originated mail.  As an example (identification fields
are 'xxx'ed out to protect the offender) I'm now receiving the following:
 
Return-Path: <[log in to unmask]>
Received: from UTCVM (NJE origin SMTP@UTCVM) by UTCVM.UTC.EDU (LMail
          V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 9273; Mon, 26 Jun 1995 18:12:26 -0400
Received: from xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxx.xxx by UTCVM.UTC.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2)
   with TCP; Mon, 26 Jun 95 18:12:22 EDT
Date: 26 Jun 1995 18:11:18 GMT
From: "Out of Office Agent" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Out of Office Notification
To: [log in to unmask]
 
Your email message RE: "Re: Modem file Transfer (MPE->Unix & Unix->MPE)"
addressed to xxxx xxxxxx has been successfully delivered. xxxx xxxxxx is
currently out of the office.
 
Message: I am attending the xxx conference in xxxxx and will be back in the
office on Thursday the 29th. Please contact xxxxxxxx xxxxx for urgent matters.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Again, I'm not trying to "harass" anyone, I know the intentions are good.
But it doesn't mix well with Listserv-based mailing in the long run.  Please
take this in the spirit of a good network etiquette suggestion and not a
flame (the latter is by no means my intent).
 
[\] Jeff Kell <[log in to unmask]>