Hello Alexander,

 ak>>>>> But how a person in Fidonet can prove that his name is real?
 ak>>>>> IMHO, I can't do it even if I wanted to.
 TK>>>> You dont have to prove it, it is enough that you tell us so.
 ak>>> I don't understand why they invented a worthless rule.

 PT>> Some may think its worthless but that the ways is been for a long
 PT>> time. Look at the internet newsgroups majority of the kiddies took
 PT>> over and their is no accountability.

 ak> Strict accountability has a totalitarian smell. IMHO the main rule of
 ak> free people - you are free in choosing your talking partners. Don't talk
 ak> with a person you don't like. Don't participate in echoes you don't like.

Others prefer to expand their horizons.

 ML>>>> it wasn't and still isn't worthless... it is a safety thing... if
 ML>>>> someone posts something illegal, there's a known entity to look
 ML>>>> at since their name is on the post...

 ak>>> But it is a voluntary, unverified name. If nobody checks it, so
 ak>>> the rule is worthless.

 PT>> There is no way to 100% verify that the user is giving their real
 PT>> name, but I check the accounts before validating the users. My
 PT>> users on my system are held 100% accountable when they do not
 PT>> follow the rules.

 ak> Besides, now every person can easily create his own Fidonet node and
 ak> write anonymously anything he wants. Who should check him?
 ak> There are also people who use NNTP news servers for posting to Fidonet.
 ak> Their users often located in different countries and nobody can check 
them.

Everybody has a name.  Here is something I wrote long ago, back in
2003 or thereabouts.  In an echo that is now long forgotten -

Hello Ross,

 JB>> I have obtained a QWK packet from Jeff Binkleys BBS that proves
 JB>> this, Jeff is one of several downlinks Dale is providing this stuff
 JB>> to and is in on this with Dale.

 JB>> We're SOOOOOOOOO surprised. [/sarcasm] And Georgia is just riddled
 JB>> with the same holes, isn't it?

RC>I dont know where the Georgia reference fits into this, other than
RC>thats whe Hardegree and Massey live, but since they are downlinks of
RC>Dale and Dale is problem here???

Well, lemme see.  Stan Hardegree is a resident of Georgia.  And Georgia
has a state law that makes it illegal for folks to pose as aliases on
bulletin boards such as fido.  Don't believe me?  See Article 6 of
Chapter 9 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.  This
law is also known as the "Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act".

As noted in FidoNet Policy Document Version 4.07, such illegal activity
is not allowed anywhere on fido.  As such, Stan Hardegree can be deleted
from fido.  Of course, that also means that Dale Ross can also be
removed from fido, since he was the one responsible for allowing Stan
Hardegree to pose as Ivan Prokhorov and CD Flanagan in various fido
echoes.

But what the hey.  Dale Ross is a fun guy.  He even went so far as to
say that he is anybody who has ever used Todd Cochrane's bbs.  Can you
imagine that?  Dale Ross is Ross Cassell.  Dale Ross is Lee Lofaso.
Dale Ross is anybody and everybody who has ever been a participant in
fido.  He should be given a medal.  As well as a one-way ticket to
the doghouse.  :)

--Lee

What all this means is that we can now delete everybody in fido
and start all over again.  With new names of our own choosing.

Whattaya think?

-- 
We're Great In Bed

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