The election-law listserv is growing now with the BCRA controversy (as it did during Bush v. Gore), and a number of reporters are members of the list.  I thought it worth mentioning two "ground rules" about the list that older members of the list may or may not remember.  (This is prompted by a reporter's query.)

1. Messages sent to the listserv are public.  Besides the 250+ members of all political and ideological denominations on this list who know how to use the "forward" button on their e-mail program, all messages are available in a public archive.  (Recently I have been linking to that archive on my blog for some of the heated discussions on BCRA.) Although only list members may post to the list, ANYONE can read the archives.

2. Although people may link to the archives, the general rule we have followed is that list posts should not be extensively quoted (in media stories or academic settings) without the permission of the poster. On my blog, I have recently started posting some informative (as opposed to opinion-oriented) messages to the list (such as Dan Johnson-Weinberger's message on cumulative voting in Illinois) without seeking express permission. In the future, I will not do so without permission.

Thanks for your cooperation.