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[mt@MEDIA-LAB.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Michael Travers)]

I asked a friend who is a NEARnet administrator for an unofficial
opinion.  The rule for the Internet is that research and educational use
is OK, commercial use is out.  Of course these are not clearly defined
or distinct categories.  Commercial interests can use the net in support
of their research, but not to advertise or do business.  Advertising
services in general is out, but if the services are research-related
(such as specifically research-related consulting work) then it becomes
a borderline case.

My own opinion is that advertising is a further threat to the utility of
email, and I'd prefer to keep them out of lists that I read.  This sort
of thing would be handled much better by a database type of service.