What goes on the Web?

Galen of Bristol ptm2792 at utarlg.uta.edu
Thu Aug 1 05:20:01 PDT 1996


On Wed, 31 Jul 1996, Vicki Marsh wrote:

> Greetings from HL Zahra Zena,
> In reponse to the messages from Lorraine, Kein and Keif
> 
> >I HATE censorship, but, there are things that we do not need to put
> >in such an open forum as the internet. We need to think what kind of
> >repurcussions some of the information will have on people's lives.
> 
> After these last two weeks, I think it is a good time to reflect on what we
> put out on the net and the W.W.W.  
> We have entered into a paradox here, where we want open information and wish
> to put it out into the public, and yet we must stop and think about the
> people that will be effected.  
>
> When I became a Kingdom Officer, I understood that my name, phone number,
> etc. would be published in a newsletter and that it would be put out on the
> web.  This is the vulnerability that occurs when you become an officer and
> public representative of a group. Any nut can call you. And they do.

I have placed the contact information for all the Kingdom and Regional 
officers, and some Baronial officers, on the Ansteorra WWW page, and the 
contact information for all Elfsea officers on the Elfsea Page.  My WWW 
page has included my contact information for over 10 months; no abuse of 
any of this information has come to my attention.

I have received two requests to remove information, one from someone who 
did not want a phone number listed, and one from someone who did not want 
his mundane name on-line; such requests are promptly respected.
> 
> Perhaps we should refrain from putting too much information out on the
> internet about events.  A calender of events is good, and a list of officers
> who can be contacted for the individual groups is good.  A complete event
> announcement with a map, etc. may be too much information.
> 
And yet, given that so many of us are on-line, how afraid do we need to 
be that someone will come to an event unready for it?

I'm completely content to let event autocrats decide what info about 
their events should be posted.

Far more widely distributed than a WWW page (The Ansteorra page had just 
over a thousand hits when I last looked) is your name, phone number and 
address in the phone book.  If we're worrying about someone picking you 
out at random and victimizing you in some way, surely more wackos have 
phone books than WWW access.

> We are being forced, as an internet community, to develop ethics of
> behavior, beyond those imposed upon us by exterior forces.  This is a good
> thing.
> 
> My two bezants worth...
> 
> 
> ZZT

I welcome further discourse on this subject.

- Galen

Viscount Galen of Bristol, KSCA, CSM, etc.
ptm2792 at utarlg.uta.edu -- for a good time, call:
http://www.uta.edu/student_orgs/CSA/officers/paul/
             "noblesse oblige"





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