Odi: During the War Between the States (1861-1865) the diminutive
Harriet Beecher Stowe, authoress of "Uncle Tom's Cabin", was
introduced to President Abraham Lincoln. The great man, at once,
remarked,"So you are the little woman who wrote the little book
which begat this great war."
While your suggestion to expose alleged e-mail abusers to public
censure is doubtless well-intentioned, my fear is that we may
be unwittingly plowing into deep and perilous waters here. First,
there is the thorny problem about what does or does not constitute
harrassment. Mr. A's tolerance for unsolicited e-mail may be higher
than Mr. B's whose tolerance for it may exceed Mr. C's. Mr. C may
be the curmudgeonly sort for whom even stray junk mail delivered by
his friendly postman sends him into paroxysms of anger and loathing.
If, therefore, our hypothetical Mr C publishes the e-mail addresses
of those supposedly harrassing him, what are we to make of it? How
are we to know beforehand of Mr. C's idiosyncracy?
This last leads to a veritable thorny thicket. One needn't have
read "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller to know that history is replete
with episodes wherein vengeful charlatans have used public fora to
engage in vindictive witch hunts against innocents. One could
envision a similar scenario emerging here if a plan to report sup-
posedly offending e-mailers is implemented. How many innocents might
be ensnared by a net so slackly broadcast? How many might use the
opportunity for other than its avowed purpose or for nefarious
ends? As such, and ignoring for now the possible legalistic backlash,
one could envision this thread devolving into a morass of unbridled
acrimony, if not, wanton warfare.
You have asked for my comments. I have given them. I cast my
vote, Nay.
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