Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!sunic!news.funet.fi!uwasa.fi!ts
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: humanitarian request
Message-ID: <1990Nov17.044938.18053@uwasa.fi>
Date: 17 Nov 90 04:49:38 GMT
References: <26678.273c16eb@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> <1381@manta.NOSC.MIL> <6114@suned1.Nswses.Navy.MIL>
Organization: University of Vaasa
Lines: 71

In article <6114@suned1.Nswses.Navy.MIL> lev@suned0.nswses.navy.mil (Lloyd E Vancil) writes:
>>In article <26678.273c16eb@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> petrino@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes:
>>>
>>>We would appreciate your responding to the request of Craig Shergold who
>>>is a seven year old boy with an inoperable tumor on his brain.
>
>>Mark North flames...
>>Petrino, where the hell have you been all your life? This kid is already
>>in the Guinness Book of World Records -- look it up.
>and continues....
>>DON'T DO THIS. The kid himself said he doesn't want to see another
>>goddamn postcard as long as he lives. Which may be quite a while since
>>last I heard he was in remission and Ok. Petrino get a clue -- if you're
>......More invective deleted.
>
>Poor Petrino,  tried to do something NICE and got publicly toasted...
>
>  The problem here is that the community is too large and too imperfect.

This extract from my /pc/ts/tsfaq13.arc might be of some relevance. 
The point is that in these escapades someone always ends up being
had.  Whether it is a gullible reposter of the plea, or the other
users somewhat irrelevant.  (But perhaps we should close the whole
subject.)

24. *****
 Q: How should I react to "a dying boy's last wish"?

 A: Don't fall into these traps. Some users get their kicks out of
trying to play pranks on unsuspecting neophyte users on the net.
These hoaxes most often take the form of pleas to send email
messages or ordinary post cards (or even money in some blatant
cases). "Dying boy's last wish" and "support a cause" are among the
most common.
   Note that the truth value of the original pleas is NOT the real
issue here. (If you are interested in that aspect eg in the
last-wish case, check the Guinnes Book of World Records). Hall-marks
of these plea-postings are that they are either repeats of age-old
themes, or are completely fictitious. Another hall-mark of these
pranks is that fulfilling the pleas would probably cause havoc on
the net and/or the postal system at some address.
   These pleas can occur in innumerable forms. One that is very
popular in Finland is "write to your congress person about the
impending registration of, and tax-levy on, all modem users". This
always causes a stir, since such idiocy could well be conceivable in
this country.
   The best reaction to these postings is simply to ignore them. At
best the pleas are misplaced. The newsgroups should keep to their
own subjects. Sending a flame would most probably be useless, since
the poster's mail address may be forged, or even someone else's
cracked userid. Better just to hope that some alert system manager
gets wind of who the prankster is, and takes appropriate action.
What you shouldn't do under any circumstances is trying to cram the
mailbox of the potential culprit. You'll just hurt the systems along
feed, and you may end up being a worse offender than the original
nitwit.
   Another childish form of pranks on the net are the bogus
newsgroups (eg alt.swedish.bork.bork.bork, alt.flame.pizza.greasy).
The best course of action for an ordinary user is just to
unsubscribe, and again hope that the alert system managers will put
things right.
   It is naturally difficult to generalize the motives behind these
practical jokes, but my understanding is that in many cases it is a
question of a kind of a misplaced creativity rather than outright
malice. It would be much better for everybody if this creativity
were directed in a more productive manner.

...................................................................
Prof. Timo Salmi        (Moderating at anon. ftp site 128.214.12.3)
School of Business Studies, University of Vaasa, SF-65101, Finland
Internet: ts@chyde.uwasa.fi Funet: gado::salmi Bitnet: salmi@finfun