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From: bakken@hrsw2.UUCP (David E. Bakken)
Newsgroups: talk.bizarre,comp.sys.amiga,comp.fonts
Subject: Re: Richard the fool (was Re: Charleen the f***head)
Summary: Yes, Richard Sexton is obnoxious
Keywords: Charleen is K*nt in drag, and causes cancer as well.
Message-ID: <118@hrsw2.UUCP>
Date: 9 Jul 88 07:56:15 GMT
Article-I.D.: hrsw2.118
References: <4674@gryphon.CTS.COM> <5719@xanth.cs.odu.edu>
Organization: Boeing Commercial Aircraft Co., Seattle, Wa.
Lines: 53

In article <5719@xanth.cs.odu.edu>, kent@xanth.cs.odu.edu (Kent Paul Dolan)
writes:
> 
> Has anyone  besides me noticed   that Richard's toilet  training  failed to
> take, and that he is busily turning himself into  an object of derision and
> pity all over the net?  

Yes, I have noticed.  A few months back he made a crude reference to 
masturbation that was totally off the wall and uncalled for.  I told him
that it was out of place in an unencrypted newsgroup.  He replied with
blistering ad hominem.  I replied to this reply, but after this I gave up
since I didn't have neither the time nor inclination to provide him with
free entertainment (he cc'd it to people). 

Richard is the epitome, indeed even a caricature, of two problems with the net:
net.iloveme and failure to appreciate that there is a person at the end
of each article (not just a stream of bytes across the phone line).  It
would be interesting run into him in an elevator at a professional 
conference - I suspect he would behave much differently since there is
nobody to impress and definitely a real person there.  Indeed, I
corresponded with gryphon's sysadmin ,Greg Laskin.  He (very wisely) has
a long-standing offer to send Richard to USENIX on the company if Richard 
will wear a badge with "richard@gryphon.cts.com" on it.  So far 
Richard has not taken him up on it. 

> If I were managing gryphon, and
> exposed to legal  culpability as a knowing  contributor to these libels and
> character assassinations, possibly at the cost of my business in legal fees
> and damage awards, I  would long ago have  pulled  his  USENet account  and
> fired him as a dangerous fool.
> 
I have heard parts of threads on this issue in the past and I think the
concensus was that a USENET site that passes on info (and I think even
the one who originates it) has no liabilities - they are a common
carrier much like the phone company.  A publisher, like a magazine or 
newspaper, obviously can incur liabilities.

I corresponded with Greg Laskin about this (Richard dropped my reply
to his ad hominem on Greg's desk, so apparently Richard is not
oblivious).  We had a very principled exchange of about 5 letters and 
Greg agreed that was inappropriate and said that Richard had been councelled.
He and Greg had been getting mail about it and apparently it had some
affect - Richard seemed to mellow out for about a month.  Unfortunately,
that didn't last too long.

I don't know if I'd have pulled his account yet, but I'd be close by now
even though this is a very serious step and there is no liability or
other costs.
-- 
Dave Bakken   Boeing Commercial Airplanes		(206) 277-2571
uw-beaver!apcisea!hrsw2!bakken
Disclaimer: These are my own views, not those of my employers.  Don't
let them deter you from buying the 747 you've been saving hard for.