[TYPES] [meta] URL rewriting notice

[Gabriel Scherer]

Dear types-list,

(list moderator here; I'm replying to a [meta] message I sent to
types-announce in July 2021, which you may want to read below for context.)

I have received several emails from list members over the last month(s)
about getting types-{list,announce} marked as spam on your end, or
receiving worrying automated emails from the list about your membership
being disabled "due to excessive bounces". Thanks for your reports!

Unfortunately, I believe that there is nothing I have changed or can change
on my end to fix this. My best guess is that it comes from UPenn
mailing-list sysadmin changes, possibly the change of August 2021 to add
URL filtering/rewriting (that I suspect interacts badly with security /
anti-spam measures, but didn't have this current effect at the time),
possibly some later change that I don't know about. I wrote to the UPenn
people to ask for help; but in August 2021 they were not able to provide
any help, and I am not confident that it will be different this time.

We may have to migrate to a different mailing-list host in the coming
months. (Only a dozen of people gave their opinion in August 2021, but
those that did were generally in support of changing mailing-list provider
to avoid the unpleasant practice of URL filtering. I have not acted on
these suggestions, partly out of personal laziness, but also because I
worry that the transition would be fairly disruptive for list members.)
My own employer (INRIA, in France) has a mailing-list service that could
probably be used. If you have recommendations -- if your university insists
on doing the world a favor by hosting academic mailing lists -- now may be
a good time to send them to me. I will also consult with past moderators
for guidance.

Listly yours, cheers

On Fri, Aug 13, 2021 at 3:55 PM Gabriel Scherer <gabriel.scherer at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear types-announce list,
>
> UPenn, who has been generously hosting this mailing-list (and types-list)
> since 2006, has just setup an email-processing system that rewrites URLs
> included in all email received by the university, including their
> mailing-list services, "protecting" them by turning them into a reference
> to a third-party service (ProofPoint / urldefense) that should redirect to
> the intended URL after some unknown security-inspired procedures have been
> applied -- or block access because someone's filter is wrong.
>
> We are in touch with the administrators to try to disable this
> transformation, but in the meantime I decided to keep forwarding the emails
> as usual to avoid disrupting the flow of announcements. Apologies in
> advance for the strange, modified URLs, and the inconvenience it may cause
> (mailing-list email being marked as spam due to failed DKIM verification,
> etc.).
>
> Best
>