Privacy? Or Sanctuary for Sleazebags?

[joffa_the_man_in_gold]

The internet has become a way of life it is a powerful tool and can enrich ones life socially and we can learn greatly from the internet in many many ways...sadly the downside of the internet can be one of great evil and hatred and the harrassment of people sexually and or in any other form is not on and should not be tolerated.

Ita about time such bulletin boards become by law that when you post or reply your full username..ie joffa corfe must be used in that post..i for one dont care a rats arse about this crap of being or wanting to remain annonymous, i believe if you have something to say opions or otherwise have the guts to sign that post with your full name.

This will go along way in ridding the internet world of misfits and social losers who have nothing better to do than harrass others!!!

Thank you
Joffa Corfe

[JLC]

I think thats a pretty valid point that Joffa has. How often do you see "big heroes" in lettors to the editor slg off somone but then be so gutless as to use an alias name.

Its a pretty sad reflection on society that people hide behind their computer screens or use the internet as a cheap way to denegrate people.

Why should Privacy Laws protect those who are doing the violating?? Seems like a weird type of legal system that we have.

Jean-Luc

[Pied Piper]

Interesting point Joffa and Jean-Luc. I subscribe to another newsgroup (unrelated to football) where I always give my real name. Unfortunately that group is blighted by a few members who use aliases to stir up trouble, flame and frequently slander others, etc. These people are nuisances and cowards, and said newsgroup is only now asking members to use their real names as a matter of practice and policy in the future.

When I discovered Nick's it was different - on this board comparatively few use their real names, and hardly anyone uses their full name. I suppose it's about time I came out and said, for the record, that I am a writer (some of you might say a journo, as magpiemad recently guessed!) and although I doubt my name would be known to other members of this group - I'm based in Brisbane and don't write about football - it's partly for this reason that I decided to use my nickname on this board.

For better or worse I do have some microscopic level of public profile, so this is a board where I prefer to function anonymously, to let off a bit of steam about the game I love and converse with other Collingwood fans. I think my posts would show while I'm not averse to disagreements, I'm not abusing my anonymity by abusing others. If the mods decide to ask for real names, I'll supply one, but for now I'd rather remain The Weed.

Finally I would like to state for the record my sympathy for whoever was the target of the harassment. Anyone with a brain atop their shoulders (not just a dick between their legs) should be able to tell the difference between attention that's welcome and unwelcome - thanks Margoz for laying down the law. The line can be a fine one at times, but it's pretty obvious from Mike's description that on this occasion that line was crossed with the subtlety of a herd of elephants.

To the perpetrator - get a clue and grow up.

The Weed

[Joe]

[quote="the_weed"]
For better or worse I do have some microscopic level of public profile, so this is a board where I prefer to function anonymously, to let off a bit of steam about the game I love and converse with other Collingwood fans. I think my posts would show while I'm not averse to disagreements, I'm not abusing my anonymity by abusing others. If the mods decide to ask for real names, I'll supply one, but for now I'd rather remain The Weed.

Finally I would like to state for the record my sympathy for whoever was the target of the harassment. Anyone with a brain atop their shoulders (not just a dick between their legs) should be able to tell the difference between attention that's welcome and unwelcome - thanks Margoz for laying down the law. The line can be a fine one at times, but it's pretty obvious from Mike's description that on this occasion that line was crossed with the subtlety of a herd of elephants.

To the perpetrator - get a clue and grow up.

The Weed [/quote]

I agree with all your above sentiments.Though I only use my first name I do not hesitate in making people aware of who I am on this website when I meet them.I am proud of my posts and at no point have I crossed the line and abused anyone,thus my anonyminity makes no difference.

As things stand I do not wish to put my family name on this website,just as I dont like to have my number in the phonebook.This is not because of what I write but rather because my family are linked to that name.

Sadly in the past they have been victims to similar attacks as the above.
This is only because of peoples evil,thus I dont want their name all over the web.This is because of behaviour such as above and worse.It has nothing to do with my behaviour or again what I write.

If in order to register on NIcks some form of ID was required,then I would be the first to present it.

To the weed you are assuming it was a male who committed this.It could have been a female that abused a male or female,or in any other order.It is wrong too assume automatically it is a male,as I am aware of cases where females have abused males in this way. No offence intended,just an observation.

Deepest sympathy too the individual concerned.

WITH RESPECT"For those who are shocked by this please take a reality check and watch the news occasionally for your own self preservation."Dont look at life through rose coloured glasses.Sadly I have learnt about similar things the hard way I hope that you never do

Well done Mike and team for acting on it,I am proud to be a part of Nicks as though it is impossible too prevent these things at least you act when they occur.

REGARDS

[MagpieMad]

Joffa I couldn't disagree with you more m8, for you it would be no big deal if people knew your name, you have your head on TV nearly every week. some of us like our privacy and giving out your real name is an open invitation for your privacy to be invaded, for instance you have given us your last name and with that one could find out your phone number, home address, ethnic background and your sex and all sorts of other information about you where unaware of even excisted about you. I have been using the net for around 8 years and in that time only a few people know my real name and all of them are on this board, I have friends all over the world who only know me as MagpieMad.
those that abuse the system will find out in short order that they are never anonymous, EVERY user on the net has an IP address, wich in an instance like this will be used by law-enforcement to find the ISP and to get the idiots name and address for prosecution, logs of activity on the net are kept for just about everything. the seizure of this said inderviduals computer will no doubt provide all the evidence required for the courts to deal with them.
we that are honest decent folks shouldn't be forced to give our real names, the freaks/wierdo's will just use another name, and we will all be expossed to them.

[Mike]

The golden rule for the kids when we first started using the internet at home was never, under any circumstances, give out any information that can identify you in chat rooms or on bulletin boards - that includes name, address, location ... anything. Nick lost his anonymity because of this site, but only when using this site, he kept the rules everywhere else.

Those that oppose anonymity on the internet need an experience with a stalker or paedophile to remind them why anonymity is a good idea. True, the nasties hide their identities, but that doesn't mean that it's the anonymity that's bad. It's common sense and good practice.

[joffa_the_man_in_gold]

[Mike]

Joffa, what's with the attitude?

You're not the only one who is digusted by these slimy bastards, but let's not take it out on the good guys.

[joffa_the_man_in_gold]

I have no attitude mike just debating how i feel on this subject your right life is full of slimy bastards and also people who havnt the guts to eyeball to eyeball.. instead they run around with hurtful gossip and bullshit out of petty hatred and jealosy the internet bulletin boards promote this behaviour with peoples rights to be anonymous in my opinion it encourages people to become sleazy it encourages no life losers to be internet hero's.

Im sure legislation could be drawn up to protect the children who use the net say under 15 years of age..if your over 15 you know whats right and whats wrong..we should be teaching our young the values of life not encourage them to hide and harrass and sleaze and abuse and im afraid the internet encourages otherwise.

For arguments sake if i were to say something on here it would be something id say in the pub or down the street or anywhere at all....why would a person want to become annonymous and speak bullshit or worse not to be prepared to back it up in the real world.

It confuses me it really does.

[Blanch]

Joffa, in a "nice" world there would be no need for people to hide behind computers. It would be great if everyone could use their own name and whilst your view regarding some people "hiding" behind a name has some merit it fails to see the point of view from 14 year old girl. Let me explain.

From what I've read here, the people standing behind abusive posts etc is frustrating and I can see that point. However, as I'm sure you're aware there are more sinister people in this world than abusive posters. Using an alias is the only way to protect our young children from these menaces. If children are forced to give out their details the sinister people of this world will use it to their advantage. The sinister people would also have to give out details? Yep, but they are more cunning than you or I and will find away around creating an alias identity anyway. My sister was 14 not so long ago and I'm sure as hell glad she had the opportunity to hide her identity.

Being abused via the internet is a very different thing to being abused physically in real life. By giving out private details, you open the door to connect the sinister people with our children.

[Kristin5]

I feel for anyone who is sexually harrassed - it is just not on. What gives someone the right to make sexual comments to someone they don't even really know? Sadly, it is a sick society we live in.

And this is merely exacerbated by the presence of the internet. It's all too easy to be able to contact pretty much total strangers, and unfortunately this happens all too often.

Joffa, I am another who doesn't hide behind an internet persona - I use my real name and pic for all to see. Maybe I should change this, but then why should I? Why should I have to change my actions just because of the chance that this information could be misused by a few others? I just wish all others were as open as well! But alas, this is not to be.

[MargOZ]

People who 'hide' behind usernames and anonymity to cause havoc because they think there will be no consequences are weak morons. But having said that - I think it's easy to forget that posting on this BB is not the same as having a chat in a pub. This BB can be accessed world-wide and we have no idea what type of people are reading our messages.

I understand your argument Joffa but it's not that simple. There are sick people out there that do sick things and I certainly don't want one of them knocking on my door because I’ve given personal details out on a world-wide forum – that’s the world we live in unfortunately. I’ll certainly be enforcing such rules on my kids as I’m sure we’ve all heard of real life cyber-stalking and paedophile horror stories.

I’m careful not to divulge too much personal information in my own local community for privacy and security reasons, so why would I do it in an online world-wide bulletin board? You have good sentiments Joffa and they would be ideal if, as Blanch said, we lived in a ‘nice’ world but baring your life and identity online can be risky and unfortunately, also very dangerous.

Marg

[Mike]

Let's get this back into perspective. The incident that started this off was a result of an email, not a post or a PM. In the days before the internet exactly the same thing would have been done anonymously by letter. In fact the internet is less anonymous, because every email and every action (including me making this post) leaves traces in system logs that result in a trail that can be followed back to the source.

How else do you think that a guy who creates an email virus that brings down mail servers all over the world can be traced to a back street in Manilla and end up in jail.

There is already very strict legislation protecting children on the internet. Legislation hasn't stopped paedophiles in the past and it doesn't now either. Teaching children to adopt safe usage practices while using the internet is not encouraging them to 'hide and harrass and sleaze and abuse'. It's teaching them how to stay safe and that is very important.

I agree, most people over, and under, 15 know what's right and wrong, but that doesn't stop the people who knowingly do the wrong thing.

Look, I could insist that people use their real identities on this site and you know what would happen? All the honest people (those that didn't leave) would do that and all the sleazebags would use fake id's. So what would we end up achieving? I'll tell you. We would very kindly hand over to the sleazebags a whole sitefull of real people with all identities verified, findable and ready to go - and don't forget we have a sizeable number of young teens on this site.

[Dr Alf Andrews]

Sexual harassment in any circumstances (internet OR real life) is just a pathetic attempt to compensate for a sense of sexual inadequacy. Too pathetic to even talk about.

As for using real names ... I've always used my real name on this site because I was probably a bit naive when I first registered. If I had my time all over again I would probably have used an alias, because I've become aware of just how many sicko bastards there are out there.

As a result, I've changed my username on another site ... even though I make no secret of who I am, and most long-time users at that site know who I am.

There may have been once or twice when I've used my lack of anonymity as a way of taking the moral high-ground in an argument ... but it's not really a valid thing to do, I don't reckon.

Using an alias on the internet is generally a pretty sensible thing to do, given the number of idiots there are in the cyber-world.

But obviously, using an alias (or series of aliases) to conduct a campaign of harrassment ... sexual or otherwise ... against another person is one of the most gutless things a person can do in this world.

I can understand Joffa's feelings on this because I know that he was a victim of a notorious trolling campaign a couple of years ago. But I disagree with his view that everyone should be forced to use their full name ... basically because anonymity is a person's right in this crazy world.

But, of course, it's also a right which can be abused by unscrupulous people.

A well run site like Nick's usually gives these unscrupulous types the boot before they do too much damage. But email is another can of worms.

Actually, with so much spam and other rubbish clogging up the system these days, I think email might have just about outlived its usefulness as a medium of communication.

Very sad, actually ... because it was a wonderful invention.

[Nova Kaine]

As for real names, I am using my real name, well real name, and nickname same difference though. There's alot of weird stuff going on, with the internet, you can't go anywhere on the 'net without seeing porn ad's, and in chat room's you cannot go anywhere without seeing people wanting cyber sex in chat rooms.