24th September 2008.

From Peter Hiscock:

It is with regret that I announce the cessation of this list.

Recent events have, as you know, revealed the difficulties and legal vulnerabilities of managing such an unmoderated list, and to moderate messages would only place me as manager in a more difficult position should similar legal action arise. It would be unrealistic in terms of time and prohibitively expensive in terms of insurance to continue the list as a moderated one. I have explored several options in the last few days but none offer a solution to the paradox created by our litigious culture and yet the desire for unfettered freedom of expression sought by at least some list members, and so I will now terminate the list.

Historically I believe this will be seen as an interesting experiment in communication. This list has operated for 11 years. The 1300 list members attest to the broad interest in Australian archaeology, and I thank you for participating in the list. I also thank the many offers of support I have received from people since our problems arose. Of course you will feel, as I do, the sadness of a situation in which the vast majority of list members, genuinely interested in exchanging information about Australian archaeology, are prevented from doing so by the ill-considered and ill-intended postings of a few individuals.

The end of the list will no doubt be inconvenient for a period however we can be confident that both interest and research into Australian archaeology will continue.

I will you well.

Yours in Science,

Peter Hiscock F.S.A.
Reader in Archaeology,
School of Archaeology and Anthropology,
A.D. Hope Building,
The Australian National University,
Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.