I am saying that I should *never* get a bounced back e-mail. To me that means the module should no longer be in CPAN

I feel your frustration...believe me, many companies with paid staff have the same frustration and have yet to solve the issue fully.

However, your proposal forgets that everyone submitting modules to CPAN does it voluntarily. If I thought my modules might get de-listed because of a problem with my mail delivery, I might be less inclined to put them there in the first place.

Then there are the modules that are useful but don't need much updating. I dare say some authors will have passed away, yet their modules are still being used as a lasting legacy to their ingenuity in creating the module and generosity in sharing it. And what of module dependencies? If you publish module ABC that depends on module XYZ and XYZ gets delisted...then what?

Thinking the other way, I do put my real email address in the Author section of POD in case CPAN's mail gets shut down one day...