4th February 2002

People with thicker skins don't mind an electronic criticism now and then. However, an abusive or menacing e-mail should never be tolerated (by anyone). The other day, Gretchen received a rather nasty note from one of her site's visitors. Before she could blast back an equally-spiteful response, I stopped her. Why? Because it would get her nowhere. I learned long ago that there were thousands of hapless, heartless morons online - and I "meet" at least one of them every day. Contradictory opinions, we should welcome; violent threats, we should not. Instead of responding to these mentally deranged individuals, I send a simple message to their ISP: "I received this rather disturbing e-mail from someone on your network a few minutes ago. What are your policies for managing such abuse? Thank you." I check the message's header for all mail servers involved. A good rule of thumb is to send this call for action to "abuse at wherever dot com." These are most likely the folks who will take care of the situation. In some cases, the perpetrator's account will be yanked with due speed. Indeed, most satisfying. Remember this option the next time it happens to you - but don't abuse it.