Ninja's blog: "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"

So today's topic of conversation is stalkers.

Now, I'm not talking about your daily rater/commenter. I'm talking about that big ol' bowl of nuts that sits of your page and comments about EVERYTHING. What bling you give to that one, who you fu-marry, who your top friends are, why you don't give them bling and happy hours, and the list goes on...

Now, if someone adds you, it does not make them have to buy you stuff, especially if all you do is harass them.

Today's stalker to watch for ___________ (can not say name)

Yeah, I knew you probably already heard of him. He's notorious for harassing members on fu, on yahoo, and on facebook. His most recent victim, well besides his constant harassment of Chris/Icon/Koontzy and anyone associated with him, is a sweet chick that you see around fu by the name of JA. {See screen shots in Stalker folder}

The problem is, we are told that we have to block him. Well, the problem with that is that he has more than one account and has no problems making new ones to continue his harassment. So how much do we really have to put up with? At what point does this become an issue for the people who run the place to step in? Because this is really fast becoming a more serious issue.

Perhaps someone in the management office could offer us a report button for situations like this? I do realize that they do not want to get involved in member disputes, but at what point is there an obligation to protect other members? Maybe have a bouncer dedicated to such situations.

Maybe if we band together as a community and ask for some changes, there will be a little more notice given to the cyber bullies that run good people away from here. Let's get a little more proactive and let members have the peace of mind that they don't have to undergo the constant barrage of assault from these people. Hopefully, there can be some consequences for these repeat offenders.

If you are the victim of a stalker, please keep records. Take screen shots and save them. If you are threatened with bodily harm, or have racist remarks thrown at you, you do have recourse. We need to make every online community safe for all its users. No one needs to worry about logging in and being assaulted by a psycho.

Cyberstalking

What is Cyber-stalking? (definition available via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberstalking)

Cyber-stalking is the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization. It may include false accusations, monitoring, making threats, identity theft, damage to data or equipment, the solicitation of minors for sex, or gathering information in order to harass. The definition of "harassment" must meet the criterion that a reasonable person, in possession of the same information, would regard it as sufficient to cause another reasonable person distress.

CyberAngels (available at http://cyberangels.org) has given the following criteria for identifying cyber-stalking as the following:

                When identifying cyber-stalking "in the field," and particularly when considering whether to report it to any kind of legal authority, the following features or combination of features can be considered to characterize a true stalking situation: malice, premeditation, repetition, distress, obsession, vendetta, no legitimate purpose, personally directed, disregarded warnings to stop, harassment, and threats.

If you are a Victim of Cyber-stalking

• Immediately document the communications. Take a screen shot of the encounter, save it to a private account on a site such as photobucket, so that you can maintain the access to them if necessary from another computer. Also, immediately tell someone close to you, family or friend, what is going on. Save all e-mail, postings, or other communications in both electronic and hard-copy form. If possible, save all of the header information from e-mails and newsgroup postings. Record the dates and times of any contact with the stalker.
• Victims may also want to start a log of each communication explaining the situation in more detail. Victims may want to document how the harassment is affecting their lives and what steps they have taken to stop the harassment.
• Victims should send the stalker a clear written warning. Specifically, victims should communicate that the contact is unwanted, and ask the perpetrator to cease sending communications of any kind. Victims should do this only once. Then, no matter the response, victims should under no circumstances ever communicate with the stalker again. Victims should save copies of this communication in both electronic and hard copy form.
• If the harassment continues, the victim may wish to file a complaint with the stalker's Internet service provider, as well as with their own service provider. Many Internet service providers offer tools that filter or block communications from specific individuals.  If the offence takes place on a social networking site, the victim should contact the administrators.  Most social networking sites have a quick link to reporting someone for inappropriate behavior.  
• Victims may want to file a report with local law enforcement or contact their local prosecutor's office to see what charges, if any, can be pursued. Victims should save copies of police reports and record all contact with law enforcement officials and the prosecutor's office. Save all communications for evidence. Do not edit or alter them in any way. Also, keep a record of your contacts with Internet system administrators or law enforcement officials
• Victims who are being continually harassed may want to consider changing their e-mail address, Internet service provider, a home phone number, and should examine the possibility of using encryption software or privacy protection programs. Any local computer store can offer a variety of protective software, options and suggestions. Victims may also want to learn how to use the filtering capabilities of email programs to block e-mails from certain addresses.
• Finally, under no circumstances should victims agree to meet with the perpetrator face to face to "work it out," or "talk." No contact should ever be made with the stalker. Meeting a stalker in person can be very dangerous.

The following is a list of resources and sites that can walk you through when and whom to contact if you are the victim of cyber-stalking. These will be updated as new resources become available

http://www.wiredsafety.org/cyberstalking_harassment/index.html - a general information and resource tool to identify whether or not your situation constitutes cyber-stalking.

http://www.cyberlawenforcement.org/  Cyber Law Enforcement is a network of law enforcement officers, who specialize in cybercrime investigation, training other law enforcement officers and who assist cybercrime victims online.  They would be the best resource in helping you identify who you need to speak to in your local area to report cyber-stalking.  They also offer support groups for the victims of cyber-stalking.

https://www.wiredsafety.org/forms/wiredcops/wc_911.html?undefined – a direct link to a site where you can report suspected cyber-stalking.

www.haltabuse.org WHOA (Women Halting Online Abuse): Founded by women to educate the Internet community about online harassment.