At 8:33 AM -0500 1/4/99, Tom Neff wrote:
> It may be a bit lame to insist on a CB-type "handle" as your alias, but I do
> know people who don't want their real identities visible on the Net for
> legitimate reasons.
Fine. Go get a hotmail account, and use that to read/post to the
list. There's absolutely no reason you have to, as a list admin, make
special dispensation to someone to keep their ID private. They can do
that themselves. In fact, they do, without telling you in the first
place.
Now, having said that, my policy is simple -- my subscription lists
are private and avaialble to nobody. Which means nobody will know
you're on the list until you post on the list and say so, because I
and none of my other admins will give out that information. But if
you want to post anonymously, then go get a hotmail or juno or yahoo,
or.... (name any of a dozen remailers) account and use that.
Of course, if I catch someone doing that and shilling for something,
that's a different fight, and one the person involved won't like.
There's nothing quite so slimy in my mind as someone who hides their
identity to flog an agenda of some sort, where if it was known who
was doing it their attachment to that agenda would be known.
> alias. Then you decide to join the Begonia Growers list so your wife can
> download growing tips, and some little tinpot listserv autocrat tells you
> "We insist on real names only here on Begonia Growers!" :)
Fine. so make up a name, attach it to your hotmail account, and give
it to the admin. If necessary, hack your voicemail with the fake name
and have him call your phone number to verify it. It's false
security, folks. (actually, if I were admin, I don't care who your
name is. I care that I can actually track you down if I need to
through your admins, which is why I allow hotmail postings and not
juno postings or anonymous remailer postings. But if I did insist on
real names, I can't see a case like Chelsea where I wouldn't in a
blink approve a fake ID in this case. But honestly, that I'll make an
exception for this doesn't mean a thing. 90% or more of the "demands"
for this are bogus, and the primary uses of these "tools" are to
flame, troll and abuse.
--
Chuq Von Rospach (Hockey fan? <http://www.plaidworks.com/hockey/>)
Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
<http://www.plaidworks.com/> + <http://www.lists.apple.com/>
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