Is USENIX selling attendee lists?

[Dave Yost]

Hold on a moment.

Hypothesis:

Imagine some computer equipment or software that you
are looking for right now or imagine a time when you
were looking for something that you ended up finding
and buying.  Maybe a cheap, fast something-or-other.
Now imagine that in today's mail you get a clever,
enjoyable ad for just that thing.

What would you do?  Throw it angrily in the trash along
with the not-so-clever, unenjoyable ads for things you
don't want or hate, like compilers for dreaded, hated
languages?

Have you ever gotten an ad in the mail for something
you don't hate, but don't want, yet the ad kept you
informed about products in an area you were interested
in?

A company can't know which names on a list will be
hot for their product.  Mail advertising is a kind
of broadcast.

How about this: a new ethernet controller that complains
all over the console when a broadcast packet comes in
that it isn't interested in?

I quietly and quickly reject the packets I don't want
and get on with my life.  If some advertising bothers
you, maybe you should complain about the advertising,
not where they got your name.  Remember the ad you got
for that thing you were looking for?

I prefer openness to closedness.

 Dave Yost
 USENIX Board