Hi Rocky,
I might not know much about MGs, so i hope the following contributes to the
list, drawing as it does on more my area of expertise.
IMHO The last thing you should do is withdraw from the net. Instead, You
should have little difficulty block every chain of your attacker's access to
the newsgroup and to the internet. why should you punish youself when you
are the victim here. Such behaviour is utterly uncondoneable (and illegal
under some circumstances).
* Contact the list administrator. All lists have an acceptable use policy.
They will have no hesitation removing the offenders from the list.
* Contact the offenders ISP, (easily found, look at the bit of the e-mail
follwing the @, and trace the web-site, e.g. "horridman@hotmail.com" try
typing "www.hotmail.com"; or replace their username with "Service" or "info"
e.g. "service@hotmail.com"). Again, there will be little hesitation in
barring these users.
* Contact the offenders place of work, ESPECIALLY if they are a university
(e.g. US university e-mails usually end in ".edu" and UK ones in ".ac.uk").
This kind of misuse of company / university e-mail is an extremely serious
disciplinary issue and often a firing offence.
All e-mail servers maintain records over several months of every e-mail
sent. They can easily track the ISP of the routing for you often down to the
actual workstation where the e-mail was sent. Stupid people (like these)
think that e-mail is anonymous, but it is perhaps the most open and easily
traceable form of communication there is. Hardly anyone is clever enough to
cover their tracks.
You of course also have recourse through standard legal channels.
To cheer you up. A colleague of mine had a horrendous experience where a
number of e-mails had been forged to look like she had written them. The
outcome if this problem could not be resolved looked professionally
disasterous for her. It took us about half an hour with the help of our
computer-services (the university equivalent of an ISP) to get definitive
proof that she had never sent the forged e-mails, AND to indicate who had.
Your case is equally clear cut.
I cannot appreciate just how horrible thus must be for you, and i am very
sorry that such a terrible thing has happened. I can however be pretty
certain that if it were me in your position I find some catharsis in
actively resisting this kind of harrasment. I am sure you will find many
allies should you choose to do so.
good luck in whatever course of action you choose
cheers
Joe.
_________________
Dr. Joseph Garner
Department of Animal Science,
University of California,
One Shields Avenue,
Davis,
CA 95616
USA
tel: + 530 754 5291
fax: + 530 752 0175
_________________
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rocky Frisco [mailto:rock@rocky-frisco.com]
> Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 3:47 PM
> To: mgs@autox.team.net; Mg-T-Series List
> Subject: Goodbye
>
>
> Thanks for all the fellowship and advice.
>
> I'm under attack in the Mini newsgroup.
>
> The attackers are now posting porno graphics with my
> daughter's picture cut
> from the photo on her web page pasted on them.
>
> I can't have my family subjected to this kind of insane
> vicious treatment.
>
> I can't believe how badly this has affected me; I think it's
> the fact that I
> don't know any way to respond adequately. I just returned
> from the Post
> Office and as I pulled up my driveway, my eyes filled with
> tears and I ran
> into the TF with the Cooper S. The damage to the cars is
> repairable, but I
> don't know if I am or not.
>
> I am withdrawing from the internet.
>
> I will continue to receive e-mail for a while. If I have
> unfinished business
> with you, please remind me.
>
> -Rock
> --
> Rocky, JJ Cale Band & Pratchett Books: http://www.rocky-frisco.com
> Rocky's Mini Cooper Page: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/6437/
> Mini Books: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/6437/rockboox.html
>
|