On 6/7/07, Elizabeth F Campion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Committeeman7 did nothing wrong!
He/she/it did something very wrong -- posted an anonymous message that not only "annoyed" the listserve but caused a whole lot of trouble, igniting a firefight and gangbang that resulted in a huge amount of damage to the list. I'm not focusing on the anonymous posters' identity -- simply insisting on the very basic principle that ANONYMOUS POSTING IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. PERIOD. FWIW here is the text of the federal statute which became law in January 2006: It's illegal to annoy A new federal law states that when you annoy someone on the Internet, you must disclose your identity. Here's the relevant language. *"Whoever...utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in whole or in part, by the Internet... without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person...who receives the communications...shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."* http://news.com.com/Create+an+e-annoyance,+go+to+jail/2010-1028_3-6022491.html While you may believe, as the above commentator does, that it's a stupid law is beside the point. There's a very good reason for this type of statute, even if it's unlikely to be enforced. -- Ross Bender http://rossbender.org
