Should get permission, yes. Otherwise be prepared for fallout,
yes. But anyone moderating a newsgroup certainly should know
that the first step in resolving such a dispute is a polite
letter to the transgressor. And in fact the only letter that
David Novak forwarded to faq-maintainers, the one containing
accusations of deliberate forgery and requesting account
termination, was not from a moderator.
I agree about adding a warning. Perhaps the auto-faq-checker
could check the newsgroups line of submissions and, upon finding
a non-*.answers moderated newsgroup, send a warning to the
submitter?
One problem is that the Approved: mechanism is so lacking in
security that we always avoid explaining it clearly, thus
engendering confusions like this. Security by obscurity, said
with the requisite sneer.
Edward Reid
Fight unsolicited email. http://www.cauce.org