Showing support for Kathy

Sometimes you forget that the on-line world can be just as nasty and unpleasant as the real one
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/03/as_i_type_this_.html

I'm sure all Webdigity members will be with me when I say that such bullying regardless of the legality is just plain wrong and lets hope that if nothing else Kathy current problems highlight these idiots for who they are.

If you have a moment I strongly encourage you to read some of the comments and trackback to that post, and I hope Kathy reads them to and comes back :)

I don't understand. Why those people hate her so much? I mean how is she involved to this?

Trollers and flamers who went beyond mainly I think she was/Is an "A" list blogger and so is the geeky internet version of a celebrity and like all celebrities has critiques and also has trolls, mind you if you think she is being singled out just look at some of the comments left on Digg after an SEO post gets to the front page. Their are some pretty sick people out there

I guess this is another view of the "internet anonymity" thing. Critique is fine when you have some argument. But this thing is too childish.

Too bad that Kathy is afraid to get out of her home. There is a saying here in Greece : "A dog that screams never bite" :)

Hopefully these idiots learn where to go stick their noses soon...

I think you have this saying in every language (in english its "A barking dog will never bite")

yeah, bad for Kathy (never read/heard about her) I hope she get enough support from the community that she is able to go outside very soon.

I think this thread should have a poll like "How old these guys are?"
1. 11
2. 15
3. 16

:P

I don't know why but I think I would prefer they were adults, if 11 years olds are coming out with comments and images like that what hope is there for a change in this style of bullying?

Plus if I even thought some of those words my mum would have boxed me round the ears!

Well the world is going worse and worse I guess....

Unfortunately, I wish I could say that this is the first time I've seen something like that.

One of the site owners I've met through my directory has had a similar experience when a battle ensued between her and her forum and the forum of a company. The company thought my listees site name was too close to theirs (it wasn't - it never would have held up in court - which they threatened her with as well) and declared all out war. The worst part was that the person I know had purchased something from the company and they had her financial information. Along with the intimidation of both her and her forum members and several hacking incidents this company has gone so far as to signing her up for credit cards and other lines of credit. I haven't talked to her in a while, but the credit thing was fairly new at the time and hopefully, she's contacted the authorities. The name of the company involved and their site would lead one to believe that they are kind, Christian, and loving people - yeah, sure they are.

The free-wheeling nature of the Internet is what makes it such a powerful and dynamic medium. It's truly a shame that this 'wild west' nature has also given the low-lifes such a powerful forum to destroy others.

My heart goes out to Kathy and hope these people are caught and prosecuted - if they did these things in person, they would be; should be the same for online.

I guess freedom has a price. I mean, I prefer these incidents from being monitored whenever I am online :)

Everyone here knows that before a few weeks we've been hacked from a few turk "hackers" who took advantage of a bad written script that I bought in the past (funny huh? I paid to be insecure :) ) Those guys have a public forum and everyone can find them except the turk authorities (I guess).

But in anyway I believe internet should remain a free place even that some fellas use it for bad things. Otherwise we loose more stuff than just being "secure"

I agree Nikolas, I think we should preserve the right to be anonymous. I am sorry Kathy is frightened, and I do hope her fears are groundless.

I agree with being anonymous up to a point. My site was starting to make a nice income when it was hacked. It's been 2 months and it is still costing me money as I am no where near the traffic and income I had when it went down.

The person I met through my site is having someone attacking her credit! That is no joke.

The threats being made to Kathy are against the law were they being made in person.

I am a true believer in free speech, but there needs to be some limits. It just seems there needs to be some level of control over illegal activities. Making threats, hacking=stealing, and other things that would not be tolerated were it happening in real life should have some consequences. Like Nickolas, my attackers came from a forum in a foreign country - with the limited amount of the site I could view, the entire site's purpose was to share information about hackable sites - in no civilized culture should such endeavors be covered under free speech.

The Internet should always be a place for frank and open discussion, but it should not become a free-for-all where people can do or say whatever they want without consequences when they truly cross the line. If the language and behavior that appeared on Kathy's and the other blogs becomes the norm rather than the exception, I suspect it won't be long before all of us will need to be looking for a new profession as the Internet degrades into a slum.

.... as long there are nor rules and regulations regarding the Internet in most of the countries the cyber crimes won't stop :(

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6502643.stm
interesting article

I will agree with Oreily :

I don't really how to comment on this type of posts. Legally it does not matter where You post a death threat or any sort of abusive remarks the law will punish. Having a code of conduct on the internet will do nothing. We have laws in all countries of this world that prohibit such behaviour in a real live situation. Does that stop murders, child molesters, racists? No. It's about time people realize that no law will stop an idiot from doing what he/she pleases. The only reason laws do exist is so people can excuse their cowardess from not doing anything when the crime is happening.
I don't know who that Kathy is nor am I interested in knowing her, but I certainly am not in support of those idiot(s) who have posted abuse towards her and her friends. But there is someone who knows who it is. But they aren't saying anything. they are either the relatives, friends or in general people who do not think that this person(s) will do the same to them. Well let those cowards be known (this comes from personal experience) that people who act like this, and especially those that get away with this, never stop there. When all other avenues go away those people simply turn on others and their family is always the one to get the worst of it.
It's not the laws we need, but a sense of right and wrong in general. Believe I do understand about protecting family and sticking by them during the worst times, but doing so when they actually don't give a damn about You is stupid, careless and a sure cry for some reality check.

 

I think being civilized is a matter of education, not law enforcement....

It is very true indeed.