From: doug@eng.umd.edu (Douglas N. Cohen)
Subject: Re: ACS shutting down
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 92 23:18:30 GMT
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park, College of Engineering
Summary: opinion
Followup-To: doug:  < doug@eng.umd.edu > : < doug@lpf.umd.edu >
Keywords: {touch bin/smiles/#4}

In article <1992Apr11.180937.25404@acsu.buffalo.edu> swann@acsu.buffalo.edu (Stephen Swann) writes:

>In article <s5ghaINNh10@agate.berkeley.edu> mmt@Berkeley.EDU writes:
>>It has finally arrived.  The day that ACS will become too much
>>of a headache for me.  It appears that there is some harrassment
>>issue that has just arisen.  I will do my best to straighten it
>>out, of course.  However, I will not try to save ACS.
>
>Congratulations to all the people who advocated anonymous harassment
>of posters.  Now you won't have to read those annoying, repetitous ads
>anymore.
>
>Of course, no one will be able to post ads that you approve of, either,
>but HEY, small price to be rid of "deviants" like Scott, eh?
>
>Nice work.
>
>-- 
>Steve Swann                 |    Speak to me in many voices; make
>swann@acsu.buffalo.edu      |      them all sound like one...  -BOC



	now wait a minute....
	you are being a little hasty in your commentary....
	1st,  maxime said  ' ... It appears that there is some harrassment
issue that has just arisen.'
	he did not say by whom, to whom, from whom, when, where, or why....
just that a problem has arisen....
	2nd,  he has said that the acs (that's the annonymous contact service)
is going down..... NOT  repeat NOT alt.personals.....
	3rd,  he has put the software up for grabs, (as in, if someone else
wants the headaches, they can deal with it....)  if i had a good feed or
connect.... i would take it.... but i'm going through a university which has 
their own little heirarchy.  i would do it if i had an independent connect to
a public access unix system....
	4th,  i don't recall _anyone_ advocating _annonymous_ harrassment.
the harrassment could have been some person harrassing a poster.  unwanted
email, or responses, obnoxious posts or posters, gay bashing, straight bashing,
women or men bashing.... any of these could have been the harrassment.  it is
yet to be stated who, what when or why...  also, the word '... appears...' and
' .... harrassment issue...' means that there are some questions.  (sort of
like saying 'suspect' instead of 'perpetrator')
	5th,  didn't you say (i could be wrong on this) that you were/are a
systems manager or something of the like?  why don't you take over....
	6th,  and as to reading annoying or repetitious ads, the only thing
that this means is that people like scott can no longer hide their actions
behind a cloak of secrecy, and will be more directly responsible for their
actiions than before, as they will be easir to track down, and proper and
direct channels will be accessable to people that wish to contact their systems
operators and request consideration.
	annoying and repetative posts will NOT go away.  most 'test' posts 
probably will, but that has always been the case.
	contrary to your statement, people will be able to post ANYTHING they
wish to, just as before, only now you will not be able to hide behind a cloak
of annonymity.  so, people claiming to be other genders, or people using 
multiple machine to get multiple ap numbers, to play with people, will not be
able to do so quite so easily.  there will be a higher level of fraud 
perpetrated by very clever hacks.  (i, for one, appreciate cleverness, even in
fraud, but do not appreciate 'meaness'.)
	the people who _WILL_ suffer will be people who have real privacy 
considerations, such as gays in jobs that do not tolerate deviations in _their_
ideas of normal, women who want to sincerely screen out the many inconsiderate,
and immature jerks who feel that anything female on the net is fair game for
their pre-adolescent stupidity, just to meet and secure a decent relationship
(could mean anything from friendship on to whatever...), and people who wish to
express an opinion or point of view which may not be considered 'mainstream'
thinking, and do not wish to be harrassed for that voice, whether it be from
dissenting opinions, or their employers, or whomever.

	so, may i respectfully (hah!) suggest that your assertions may be 
accruate, (that remains to be seen) bet possibly premature, and also possibly
incorrect...
	just a thought....
	{touch bin/smiles/#4}

        another opinion, worth about what you paid for it .....
        and, as always, i am/at:

             doug:  < doug@eng.umd.edu > : < doug@lpf.umd.edu >

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