Quote:
Originally Posted by Indydealmaker
IMO forums should require the verified use of a poster's real name. Anonymous posts have no credibility and are a breeding ground for slander, libel, bullying and a leading cause of high blood pressure.
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I disagree about that. I went on Findlaw around mid-2001 to look for a lawyer for a case of medical malpractice and tell my story about my fight for access to practical information for survivors of crimes. The Findlaw Sysop (System Operator) even told me that this was the perfect place to do this. I started posting verbatim copies of letters I had received. Or, nearly verbatim.
This went OK for just a very small time and then lawyer after lawyer kept on attacking me with very personal challenges. Not sure why this was mainly because I was arguing that people should do their own research about the law especially if they are victims/survivors of crimes. Not that they should cease taking legal advice just that it is an important check-and-balance to use the Internet. Ironically, I saw Findlaw as one of the best ways of doing this.
I was also talking about all the problems I had with pushing for better access to practical information when I was still inside the law librarianship profession. I tried to document everything and sent a bunch of these documents to the ObamaCare people a few months back as I still believe when it comes down to it the effects of violence and handling them is as much as a legal problem as one of public health.
Often though because of all the personal attacks I got, I had to switch to anonymous postings on Findlaw which opened me up, however, to people pretending to be me like the cybersmearer I mentioned above who used anonymous names and fake e-mail addresses as well.
If the balance of power between parties is severely unbalanced then I do think we need anonymous posting available.
This fight I had is also what I was scared about talked about with the Sumter County Court Administrator when I had Jury Duty on May 19, 2014 as it would have taken me a very long time to discuss everything I have been through over the past 38 years or so since I first became interested in this issue following the murder and murder investigation of Michelle Mitchell in Reno, Nevada on February 24, 1976 (my birthday).