Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!hplabs!decwrl!pyramid!prls!philabs!micomvax!ray
From: ray@micomvax.UUCP (Ray Dunn)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: A SERIOUS DILEMMA FOR THE NET
Message-ID: <1282@micomvax.UUCP>
Date: 20 Sep 88 22:23:35 GMT
References: <7086@gryphon.CTS.COM> <7090@gryphon.CTS.COM> <6629@chinet.UUCP> <1219@cbnews.ATT.COM> <6817@rpp386.Dallas.TX.US>
Reply-To: ray@micomvax.UUCP (Ray Dunn)
Organization: Philips Electronics Ltd. (TDS - Montreal) St. Laurent QC, Canada
Lines: 92

In <7090@gryphon.CTS.COM> oleg@gryphon.CTS.COM (Oleg Kiselev) and
In <6817@rpp386.Dallas.TX.US> jfh@rpp386.Dallas.TX.US (John F. Haugh II) and
In <6629@chinet.UUCP> rissa@chinet.UUCP (Patricia O Tuama) and
In <1219@cbnews.ATT.COM> wbt@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker), backed by
a chorus of simpering toadies in alt.flame writes:

>To the members of Usenet:
>
>Hello.  There has emerged, what we feel to be a huge problem.  For
>a while now, the net has been plagued with postings from several
>"people" at the Portal System (tm) in California.  The postings are
>made from ambiguous accounts such as "Spartan", "Hijacker", "Argent",
>"ANKH" etc, ad nauseum.
>.....

This article, posted in news.admin separately by various frequent
"contributors" to alt.flame, is, I contend, of irresponsible, malicious,
intent.

Be warned.  The posting is just another step in a deliberately fanned
"flame-war" which has been in progress between Kiselev and others, and the
users of Portal, for some time.

For those wise people who do not read alt.flame, the war mainly involves the
said clique concertedly foul-mouthing the Portal users in every way
possible, and for any violation they can dream up.

These "violations" have in the past weeks included admitting to being 14
years old, asking what "SO" meant (I think in alt.sex), and exhibiting the
other traditional manifestations of new users that we must expect.
Occasionally annoying, nothing "beyond the pale".

The cabal's immediate response has been of the "f*ck off little boy, and if
you don't like what I'm saying then watch out because we will have your
account pulled, and *we* are responsible USENET adults" variety.  The very
act of posting from portal has triggered the chorus!

This of course has frequently provoked the portal users to retaliate in
kind.  Many postings are clearly *designed* to make portal users respond
that way.  Portal baiting has become a fine art on alt.flame!

Predicatably, they are not disappointed!  This creates material which is at
their disposal to be manipulated at will to further fan the flames:

In article <53861RWC102@PSUVM> RWC102@PSUVM (R. W. F. Clark) writes:
>In article <9152@cup.portal.com>, john_f_tamburo@cup.portal.com says:
>>
>>     [many four-letter explicatives deleted]
>>
>Mr. Tamburo, I think that would be singularly ill-advised....

Clark posted this in news.admin (without the deletions), although
9152@cup.portal.com appears only in alt.flame, and Clark directs followups
back to alt.flame - a flagrant if clumsy attempt to make a portal user
appear to be posting foul language in news.admin.  Mr Tamburo certainly has
a way with words (:-), but to no more excess than his opponents in
alt.flame.

Between the foul-mouthed rantings and vicious personality-assassinations,
this purile small-minded cabal portray themselves to their victims as
knights on white chargers and keepers of the net!

They pretend to represent you and I.

Don't take my word for it, they have, and continue to present themselves
daily in alt.flame.

Frankly, the spectacle is nauseating.

Why do we continue to propagate the alt sub-net and support the excesses of
these dregs of our USENET society?

While the verbiage remained in alt.flame it was marginally supportable.  To
have it spill over into news.admin, and to now stomach this sanctimonious
"dilemma" clap-trap is going much too far.

I *do* dislike anonymous postings and I *do* have some problems with the
type of access sites like Portal enable, however this attempt to coerce
USENET administrators into taking sides in a flame-fest, in a bogus pretence
of seeing a "serious dilemma" is at the same level of irresponsible nonsense
as the jj postings, or some of the more outrageous threats of lawsuits etc.

I ask the administrators of the sites whose users have posted the "serious
dilemma" and associated articles to examine the evidence, closely question
the actions of those users, and perhaps report back their findings to the
net.

-- 
Ray Dunn.                      |   UUCP: ..!philabs!micomvax!ray
Philips Electronics Ltd.       |   TEL : (514) 744-8200   Ext: 2347
600 Dr Frederik Philips Blvd   |   FAX : (514) 744-6455
St Laurent. Quebec.  H4M 2S9   |   TLX : 05-824090