XADM: Owner and Permissions on Distribution List Object

Adding or deleting members of a distribution list (DL) from the Exchange client does not modify the actual distribution list membership within the Microsoft Exchange Server Administrator program.

Using the Exchange Administrator program, an Exchange Server administrator has added Windows NT accounts on the Permissions tab with Role as User in an attempt to allow users to update and/or modify the distribution list.

To allow a group of users to make membership modifications to the DL from within the Exchange Client, you must add permissions to the Exchange Server distribution list using the Exchange Server Administrator program.

For more informaiton, please see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
To configure multiple owners of an Exchange distribution list, you can use the Permissions page of the distribution list to assign administrative permissions to multiple users. But this method may be difficult to manage and update. (By default in the Exchange Server Administrator program, the Permissions page is not visible for a distribution list. You can make it visible by clicking Options on the Tools menu, then click Permissions, and select the Show Permissions Page for All Objects option.) Alternately, you can manage multiple ownership of a distribution list through a Windows NT group. To do this, perform the following steps:

1. Create a mailbox or custom recipient whose Primary Windows NT Account is a Windows NT group.
2. Assign this mailbox as owner of the distribution list.

You can now manage multiple ownership for the distribution list by adding or removing members of the Windows NT group account.

A user who attempts to modify the membership of a DL from within the Exchange Client, and who is not an owner of the DL or member of a distribution list which is listed as owner of the DL, should receive the following error message: