Eeyore  wrote in
news:47924F18.E124F1AF{at}hotmail.com: 

> 
> Local internet service providers may consider blocking an American
> from taking part in online discussions following one of the worst
> cases of "flaming" seen in this country.
> 
> A mysterious figure calling himself "Bertie the Bunyip" has upset
> local Usenet newsgroups after a bizarre campaign that has included
> posting fake photographs of a topless Queen Mother.
> 
> If someone burst into a cafe or pub and started yelling obscenities
> and abusing everyone in sight, you might expect the manager to throw
> them out or call the police.
> 
> But neither of these remedies is available to the newsgroup users, who
> are desperate to rid themselves of what is known on the internet as a
> "troll."
> 
> Trolls get their kicks from baiting other people using online
> discussion 
> 
> forums.
> 
> "Bertie the Bunyip" is believed to be a commercial pilot living in the
> United States.
> 
> He claims to have been similarly hounding newsgroups in the United
> States for three years, despite complaints to the FBI and a libel
> action 
> 
> against him.
> 
> After local users unwisely responded to his taunts, the Bunyip's
> replies 
> 
> soon spread to the nz.comp and nz.politics newsgroups.
> 
> New Zealand politicians - including some ministers - are believed to
> use 
> 
> the politics group.
> 
> In the past few days, the American has paralysed the most popular of
> the 
> 
> local forums, nz.general, which is read by up to 50,000 people.
> 
> Bunyip's antics have prompted some users to stop using the newsgroups.
> 
> Bunyip changes his identity characteristics every 30 or 40 posts, so
> it is difficult to check him using e-mail or newsreader software
> blocked senders' lists.
> 
> David Farrar, a newsgroup user and information technology adviser to
> National Party leader Jenny Shipley, described the "flame" war as the
> worst outbreak of its kind he had seen on New Zealand discussion
> groups. 
> 
> Applying sanctions against Usenet users could be extremely difficult,
> said Mr Farrar.
> 
> Bunyip has been using a Seattle-based newsgroup service called
> Altopia, which has a liberal policy on what it will allow.
> 
> "One of the problems of newsgroups is that they are about as close to
> anarchy as anything can get," he said.
> 
> "If you get a person going rogue, as this Bertie the Bunyip has, you
> would normally complain to their internet service provider.
> 
> "Unless it is causing actual harm, they don't see it as their job to
> police it."
> 
> Xtra systems support specialist Richard Stevenson said he could easily
> filter the messages from Xtra's news server - one of several providing
> Usenet feeds in New Zealand.
> 
> But he would not decide to do so himself.
> 
> Mr Stevenson said he had not yet had to remove individual posts but
> had occasionally, at the request of the Department of Internal
> Affairs, blocked newsgroups that were related to child pornography.
> 
> He was not concerned about Bunyip's rights to freedom of speech.
> 
> "He's got to get it into his skull that [news servers] are private
> property."
> 
> Mr Farrar believed that if Bunyip persisted for more than a couple of
> weeks, local internet service providers might agree to remove him from
> New Zealand servers.
> 
> But it was more likely that Bunyip would disappear quite quickly if
> ignored.
> 

Old news but thanks for sharing! 


I think I still have that poic of the queen mother's tits somewhere. You 
could put it on your wall and sing "God save the Queen " While you do 
whatever it is you assholes do..... 



Bertie
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