Xref: utzoo talk.bizarre:15658 comp.sys.amiga:20940 comp.fonts:233 Path: utzoo!yunexus!geac!sq!utfyzx!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!rutgers!gatech!bloom-beacon!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!ssc-vax!shuksan!tahoma!hrsw2!bakken 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.