Hi all,

Three permutations of what we were told might be FSFE e.V. minutes
appeared last week (example[1]).  Two of them containing defamatory
information.  One of them had the name Matthias Kirschner in the
document properties, but that is easily forged so it doesn't prove anything.

Purported resignation emails[2] from two FSFE e.V. GA members were
circulated.  Once again we don't know if those emails are genuine.  The
only thing we can be sure of is that two people, Shane Coughlan and Hugo
Roy were removed from the FSFE team[3] page.  We don't know if they
resigned or if they were expelled.

Two surveys/polls were distributed.  One includes[4] a link to my blog,
the other even includes[5] my name.  The former asks people to send me
money.  Please note I'm not asking people for money: I've previously
suggested the best thing to do with your money is keep it in local
groups or give it to developers you know personally.

Hoaxes often cut-and-paste many things that are true to gain our
confidence and then change some minor details to exploit our trust.  For
example, maybe the minutes are 99% true but the results of the votes
have been changed.  The poll with various links includes a link to an
FSFE page about a Fellow who died but it doesn't include any proof that
the same person gave the bequest.  FSFE had 1500 Fellows at its peak,
mostly white German males between 30 - 50 years old.  Actuarial tables
tell us that age group has a 0.2% rate of death: in other words, 3
Fellows die each year, so the probability that the named Fellow gave the
bequest may be less than 33%.  The use of my name, links and phrases
cut-and-pasted directly from previous emails/blogs has prompted some
people to assume I may have started the surveys/polls.  This is exactly
how a hoaxer would want you to feel.

The only thing we can be sure of is that some people have a lot of time
for these games.

Regards,

Daniel

1.
https://lists.fsfellowship.eu/pipermail/discussion/2019-October/000401.html
2.
https://lists.fsfellowship.eu/pipermail/discussion/2019-October/000460.html
3.
https://lists.fsfellowship.eu/pipermail/discussion/2019-October/000462.html
4. https://civs.cs.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/vote.pl?id=E_cf5958c1e22be80a
5. https://civs.cs.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/vote.pl?id=E_498921e2e7e431e9
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