In response to complaints of censorship on the discussion list, Stan (a long time Adaptec/Roxio List recipient) wrote:

Adaptec/Roxio has always ‘paid the freight’ for their own, honestly identified “moderated” <news group> & openly controlled forum.

“Their” newsgroup exists as a wise, long term business decision to: 1) Cultivate real world user feed back – good & bad, 2) Demonstrate a competitive degree of dynamic, end-user help & self-help, 3) Monitor for and accept or ignore trends etc. and I assume other benefits to Roxio.

Adaptec/Roxio’s <NG> is voluntary and still cost free the last time I checked.

If one does not like the moderation/control/restriction yada, yada, yada, [insert your own catch phrase here] one remains free to go to one or more of the thousands of USENET <NG’s> to revel in unrestrained freedom to find as productive & efficient & focused CDR info resource as exists here. (Good Luck finding another Mike Richter)

1 Apr 1998 – Many thanks to Deirdre for her tireless work in moderating this forum. It is one of the few really useful tech discussions of this depth and usefulness on the Web, and much more in the spirit of the original Internet. Thanks also to Adaptec for allowing her to do this. It is the very thing that creates an image of a firm worth doing business with. Consumers are Not blind to service. I have read every digest since signing on about 2 weeks ago, and all backlog, and have found the information has in one way or another solved all my problems to date

10/31/95 – …I plan to try Easy-CD in part because I am so happy Deirdre’ is active on this list. [This referred to the now-defunct CDR-L list, a third-party list in which I was active before starting the Adaptec CD-R list.]

8/18/96 – Just wanted to shoot an email over to you thanking you for your excellent job with the “Easy-CD mailing list.” Unfortunately the Easy CD Digest now has so much volume that I no longer have time to read it, so I must regretably unsubscribe (don’t worry…I unsubscribed the correct way <g>) I guess it’s an example of too much of a good thing.

I’m writing ’cause I just wanted you to know your efforts are appreciated… and I’m sure I’ll be asking you a few questions here and there.

30 Nov 1998 – Thanks for the service you provide. Between the LIST, Mike Richter’s CD-R Primer & Andy McFadden’s CD-R FAQ I have a resource library that will soon go to a second binder. Appreciate your work, efforts, comments, and information.

10 Dec 1998 – You guys (Adaptec) make a great product and you guys (D’) run a great List!

26 Jan 1999 – It’s good to see a forum that allows discussion and also criticism/praise of a company’s products.

26 Jan 1999 – Having signed up to your list some time ago now, may I congratulate you on a splendid job well done. I was advised to read the list when I invested in a CD-RW Drive and I have managed to solve all my problems so far with the assistance of your subscribers having encountered and solved the problems before I experienced them.

13 Feb 1999 – I’ve been subscribed to your list now for a few months (and very helpful have I found it).

24 Feb 1999 – Congratulations on a great mailing list. I subscribe to many and I know what it is you go through. It is obvious that you enjoy the job, and that shows through in your “list mom” comments to your cyber-community. It is not “just a few minutes a day”, as some would suspect. It looks to me like you have a full-time job with this large list.

3 Jun 1997 – I offer this information to others because this list has helped me figure problems before they became serious problemsThank you for this forum and making it the best on the net

8 Apr 1997 – this is unique and effective. Lately it seems to me as if most software support units provide mostly PR and guidance at the hardware equivalent of finding the power switch. Here folks at least are able to get forward-going suggestions from people that have some knowledge of the problem.

1 Nov 1996 – [The list] has been a great help to many people using your software and your hardware products. The knowledge and help that contributes to this list is much greater than the sum of the participants. I, personally, have learned many things on this list and I have also contributed to helping others. The participants of this list vary widely, from home customer, business user, to vendors of devices. To me, Adaptec was becoming a very respected name, mainly for the people behind all the services you were providing.

I’m sure this list was also taking some load off your tech support people because answers could be obtained from this list. You’re also missing out on a lot of free advertising. I’d seen many suggestions to buy an Adaptec host adapter that had more capability for their applications.

If there is anything that I can do to help convince you that this list is an asset for your company, just drop me a line. [Refers to a period when the Adaptec mail servers could no longer handle the list load, but we hadn’t yet outsourced it.]

17-Feb-97 – First let me thank all of you on this list for your informative and expedient support. This has to be the best location for tech support I have found for ANYTHING. I am now happily and successfully burning many a disc

15-May-97 – you have definitely got one of the best-run lists I’ve encountered in my 14 years on the ‘net.

14-May-97 – you are providing a vital and otherwise outstanding service to the CDR community

25-Mar-97 – I have been a recipient of this forum for a few months now. Quite a service for learning and growing with this changing technology!

04-Apr-97 – Subj: D. J Parker’s “Seven Steps . . .” Article [Emedia magazine]

I found Dana J. Parker’s article, “Seven Steps to Successful CD Recording” ( April 1997, Vol 10, No 4 ) to be well written and very informative. I wish you had published it a year and a half ago when I was struggling with many of the issues she covers.

Unfortunately, she neglected to mention one of the best resources anywhere for both novice and advanced users of CDR technology. This resource is the EasyCD mailing list. ..The list is a moderated free support forum sponsored by Adaptec. Three of the experts mentioned in the article ( D. Straughan, P. Crowley, and D. Grimes ) regularly provide solutions and answer questions on the list. Representatives of Yamaha, Phillips, and Adaptec also monitor and clarify hardware related problems. I would highly recommend the EasyCD list for quick and accurate answers to basic or advanced CDR questions.

26 Jan 2000 – Man, that was nasty. I would like to thank Adrian for posting it. I goes to prove that he/Adaptec (Yes, I have had my problems with their software too) have a good list here. The fact that the previous message was posted gives me re-newed interest in the list. And just so you know, I am not an employee of Adaptec or any software or hardware company for that matter 🙂

11 Feb 1998 – The list alone is a service many firms don’t offer. It’s moderated to keep the content relevant and eliminate the spam, we’re notified whenever there’s a product upgrade available or when the website changes. Just the cost for the, ummm, ‘person-hours” to maintain the list would cause many firms to shut it down.