----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick Arnett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, October 26, 2002 6:36 PM
Subject: RE: test


> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:brin-l-bounces@;mccmedia.com]On
> > Behalf Of J. van Baardwijk
>
> ...
>
> > >Make that "a *self*-moderated list."
> >
> > I must respectfully disagree with you, at least in part. Sure,
> > the dinging
> > system might prevent people from making a major nuisance of themselves.
> > However, incessant dinging of person #1 by person #2 may very well
cause
> > person #1 to become so fed up with it that s/he gives up posting
> > altogether, be it on a particular topic or on every topic. In that
case,
> > person #2 has effectively turned the list into a moderated one, at
least
> > for person #1.
>
> Prevention of abuse is the reason that the dinger also gets some points.
> Incessant dinging as you describe will make it very difficult to
> participate.  The idea is that the real effects of dinging are felt when
a
> number of people concur and ding the same individual.

That makes sense.  So, is there a limit on repetative dinging of person A
by person B?  That would make sense

>Now that I think about it, for the system to work effectively, people
should be able to ding
> to the extent that they actively participate.  Lurkers, like anonymous
> dingers, would have to have very limited power to ding, since they'd have
> nothing to lose.

That makes sense, but it should be an asymptotic, not a linear function,
IMHO.  That is to day, 50 posts a day shouldn't allow you 50 dings a week
on Ms. X, while 1 post a day allows you 1.  There are various ways of
handling this, and if automated they could be fancy functions. :-)  I'd be
happy to volunteer a function if it could be plugged in easily (for you)
and if you could tell me the general flavor of function you would desire.

>
> Our aim is to find a set of rules, or heuristics, that prevent abuse --
not
> necessarily the possibility of abuse, but certainly from a practical
> standpoint.

That makes sense.  I support the idea of dings because it allows the
community to slow down mail bombs, quiet flame wars, etc. without throwing
anyone off.
>
> Creating multiple accounts won't work unless the abuser is very, very
> patient and diligent, since the person will have to actively participate
> from those accounts.

That wouldn't be enough, of course.  But, it would not be hard for list
owners to not notice 20 new accounts that speak with one voice.

>>I want to know who did it.
> I'm sure you do... but I don't think transparency need be carried that
far,
> necessarily.  Anonymity has value, as long as its power is strictly
limited.
> For example, the heuristics could assure that even if *everyone* actively
> involved in the list dinged the same person anonymously, the effect would
> still be relatively minimal.  Remember, we're not talking about blocking
> messages, just delaying them.  It is quite literally a moderating effect.
>
> The fact is, we already tolerate near-anonymity from subscribers who only
> identify themselves with pseudonyms, rather than their legal names.  I
> imagine that if we had a member who was threatening retribution for
dinging
> (mail-bombing, lawsuits, etc.), anonymity might prove the only means of
> bringing some order.  Maybe not necessary, though.

Since we have a list member who has mail bombed, and has threatened
lawsuits, and has, perhaps in jest, threatened violence, I think that is
reasonable.

Dan M.

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