At 12:15 04-10-2002 +0100, Richard Baker wrote: > > Of course, this is extra easy for The Fool, as s/he is cowardly hiding > > behind a nickname and refuses to disclose his/her true identity, so > > that nobody can come after him/her. > >I think that the pseudonymity of the Fool is quite reasonable.
Under normal circumstances, sure, it would not be unreasonable. But if one starts throwing accusations around like The Fool does, hiding behind a nickname is the Way of the Backstabbing Cowards. If a person starts insinuating that someone is probably a Holocaust-denier, that person should at least have the courage and the decency to put his/her real name under it, not some pseudonym. Let me put it this way. Tomorrow morning you pick up your newspaper and find a letter-to-the-editor that says "Richard Baker, living at <your address> is a child-molesting, woman-raping Nazi". The letter is signed by "The Avenger". If such a thing would happen, would you not like to know who "The Avenger" really is? Would you not be inclined to sue him for libel/slander? >I also have to say that the idea that somebody might "come after" >someone for saying something here is a little troubling. I must point out that with "coming after" someone, I do not specifically mean "coming after" someone for saying something *on this list*. It is much broader than that; if The Fool shows this kind of behaviour on-list, it is highly likely that he will show identical behaviour in real life. Also, with "coming after" someone, I do not mean "come after someone with a razor-sharp axe to split his/her skull"; you need to think more along the lines of "libel/slander lawsuits". Certainly in real life, such accusations are enough reason to drag the offender to court. (Not that I am planning a lawsuit -- The Fool is not at all worthy of that much attention.) Jeroen "The only good Fool is a silent Fool" van Baardwijk __________________________________________________________________________ Wonderful-World-of-Brin-L Website: http://www.Brin-L.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
