Hi.
Sure,
I can give you some advice to the best of my ability but keep in mind I
am not a licensed lawyer and have only learned law by growing up with
lots of family and friends who were judges and lawyers, by studying it
on my own, and by learning on the job when I litigated a large case
against a group of guitarists who ganged up on me on the internet and
broke several laws which I alleged to be Infringement of Common Law
Copyright, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Intentional
Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage, Intentional
Misrepresentation, Invasion of Privacy: Appropriation of Name or
Likeness, Invasion of Privacy: False Light, Libel, Libel Per Se,
Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress, Negligent
Misrepresentation, Trade Libel (Disparagement), Unfair Competition,
Civil Conspiracy, and Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practice. I
warned these guys to stop their vulgar and illegal actions and remove
their fraudulent and violating messages but they didn't and I had no
choice but to sue them. They tried to remain anonymous but through the
power of the court I got their names revealed. Along the way I gave
them many opportunities to settle the case and a couple of them did so
early on, but three not until I was about to file in their state court
where jurisdiction would no longer be an issue. Shortly after I filed
the suit anonymous cyber stalking became a Federal crime.
I am
sorry to hear that you're being victimized on this pathetic guitar
newsgroup which has had a history of abuses and conflicts just like any
other unmoderated group simply because there are people out there, in
all walks of life, who don't respect other people's freedoms, are
jealous, vulgar, psychologically empty, lonely, and burdened by
comparison and in some cases with histories of being neglected and
abused which
makes them possess deep rooted frustrations and angers which they find
an outlet for on cyberspace by abusing their implied
constitutional right to speak anonymously. Unfortunately, competition
in artistic circles is common, and highly unintelligent first because
comparison is based on measurement and measurement in arts is highly
subjective and inaccurate, and secondly, a mind which is burdened by
comparison is not free. Unfortunately, our educational systems, in all
disciplines including arts, promotes comparison and competition but
that's a subject for another paper.
Usenet
is useless. Usenet is
an old technology which does not have built in mechanisms that allow
for prevention of abuse. It is best avoided specially if you are brave
enough to use your real name and you come from outside the framework of
academic guitar with its competitions and brutality and people who want
to constantly prove they're better than others, and you make no claim
whatsoever about your playing, and make some CDs which is appreciated
by thousands... The usenet groups I have known have been dominated by
people who are empty or troubled psychologically and want a social life
and desire to be respected, to be important, to be somebody on a
newsgroup and this can come at the cost of bullying other people and
doing so using illegal means which usenet freely allows because it's a
crap of technology which is completely unregulated and prone to very
serious abuses. Therefore, if you have a good life, if you have rich
friendships, if you are an artist and have a venue for sharing your art
with others in the real world, if you're not psychologically so
pathetically poor that you need to resort to be somebody on a
newsgroup, then it is best to
leave unmoderated newsgroups to the animals that dominate it and who do
the
kinds of things many have been a victim of.
Concrete recommendations would be to
1)
Immediately try to trace the message and inform their ISP if it's
obvious who it is and send a notice of preservation to their usenet
service and email provider.
2) You should tell this person to stop this action and remove all their
abusive messages immediately.
3)
If they don't you can consider legal action which you can ask me again
later and discuss with an attorney for formal recommendations.
Gotto go
Write again if you want.
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