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Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2(pesnta.1.3) 9/5/84; site epicen.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!mcnc!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!umcp-cs!gymble!lll-crg!dual!qantel!intelca!t12tst!epicen!jbuck
From: jbuck@epicen.UUCP (Joe Buck)
Newsgroups: net.flame,net.news
Subject: Re: Juvenile use of Followup-To header line
Message-ID: <151@epicen.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 16-Jun-85 18:04:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: epicen.151
Posted: Sun Jun 16 18:04:45 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 20-Jun-85 10:56:34 EDT
References: <146@epicen.UUCP> <621@kvvax4.UUCP>
Organization: Entropic Processing, Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 53
Xref: watmath net.flame:10643 net.news:3463

> From: pete@kvvax4.UUCP (Peter J Story)
> Date: 12 Jun 85 15:51:35 GMT
> 
> > net.flame is there because I'm pissed off (you a******!). net.news is
> > there because I think something should be done about this kind of behavior.
> > Joe Buck                Entropic Processing, Inc. (epi)
> >                        {ucbvax,ihnp4}!dual!epicen!jbuck
> 
> Before you, and others like you, start criticising (however valid the
> criticism might be) I suggest you read the net etiquette article.
> Offensive language on a world wide basis is hardly very productive.
> --

You're right. I sincerely apologize for foul language in lists other than
net.flame; I was angry at the time and didn't think. To anyone I offended,
I'm sorry (in the original message I spelled out a******, but I don't
think there was any other offensive language).

But this cretin (alex@ucla-cs.UUCP) has done a lot more than I first 
realized. In almost every message he posts now, he changes the Followup-To 
and Reply-To fields. He seems to do the latter to bother other people 
at ucla-cs; yesterday someone posted a complaint about inappropriate 
messages in net.micro.trs-80; these also were generated by him.

Because these are followups from net.flame, he's doing a lot more than
me to spread offensive language all over the world.

On a related topic, there's a very offensive discussion that started on 
toilet paper usage, but that has gotten a lot more disgusting, that's
being posted to both net.flame and net.women. Similar things have happened
in the past. It seems we need a mechanism to isolate net.flame traffic 
from other lists.

How about having netnews software insert a 'Followup-To: net.flame' whenever
any of the original newsgroups is net.flame, and not allowing any other
followup-to line? Lots of times people who are angry about some point
raised in a different newsgroup respond both to that newsgroup and net.flame.
Then the net.flamers see it, and respond with a followup both to net.flame
and to the original list, usually in a much more offensive manner than
the original posting. If it's a hot topic, the original list will be
swamped in flames. That's what's happened to net.women; in the last two
weeks it was the highest volume group because of this (in part).

Because most sites won't change their software, we might want relay sites
to modify received messages in this way before passing them on.

Until we do something like this, will the net.flamers please check to
see what newsgroups the message is going to when they post a followup?
If you want to be crude, obnoxious, and disgusting, fine, but keep it
in net.flame or else rot13 it.
-- 
Joe Buck		Entropic Processing, Inc. (epi)
	  		{ucbvax,ihnp4}!dual!epicen!jbuck