Scratch's Sudden Departure

[_dblagent007]

But in his post on April 11 at 6:14 p.m., Scratch denied ever being a student at the USC law school.

True, but his IP address tells a different story. My theory isn't iron-clad. It's just that the circumstances surrounding Scratch's deparature are just about as fishy as can be.

[_dblagent007]

If I recall correctly, on another thread, it came out that DCP had obtained IP information about scratch and was dropping "hints" to him in posts that he knew where he was posting from.

I was under the impression that only moderators of boards had access to IP information. Is this impression incorrect?

Scratch alleged this in his final post. Scratch thought the MAD moderators gave DCP his IP address.

[_Daniel Peterson]

Is or is not that what you were saying in the post I cited?

That is not what I was saying in the post you cited.

My simple point is this: Those who accuse me of causing a rupture between GoodK and his stepfather over something with which I have no legitimate concern and of which I have no knowledge whatsoever should understand, before they leap to condemn me, that GoodK's stepfather and I have known each other for more than two decades and that the troubled relationship between GoodK and his stepdad had been a topic of conversation between us at several points over that period.

Disagree with my providing the link as much as you wish, but it's simply false to claim that I destroyed a relationship of which I knew nothing. I knew about it, and I didn't destroy it.

Incidentally, I don't have Scratch's IP address and don't know where his base of operations is. I don't know his name, his profession, his status in the Church, his marital status, his age, his gender, his location, his theological opinions, his political views, his economic class, his nationality, or anything else about him.

But enough of this.

[_dblagent007]

Why would GoodK's post not qualify as parody?

It would not qualify as parody if it could reasonably be understood as describing actual facts.

[_Rollo Tomasi]

Incidentally, I don't have Scratch's IP address and don't know where his base of operations is. I don't know his name, his profession, his status in the Church, his marital status, his age, his gender, his location, his theological opinions, his political views, his economic class, his nationality, or anything else about him.

Then how did you come, according to Scratch, to use lingo in your posts connected with USC or USC's law school?

EDITED TO ADD:

For DCP's reference, here is how Scratch described it:

Back during my days posting on FAIR, I used to log in using a University of Southern California computer. (And no---I won't say whether it was as faculty, staff, student, or via one of the public-access terminals.) Apparently, this fact was looked at or "spied upon" by the moderating team at FAIR/MAD. Also apparently, the USC IP addresses terminate at the USC Gould School of Law (I'm guessing, anyhow). Well, it seems that this information was passed along to DCP, who thought that he would use it in an effort to taunt me and/or shut me up. You can search through his old posts for words like "trojan," or "gould," and so on. You'll see that DCP would drop these terms into various exchanges that we had. I later learned, thanks to Liz, that DCP believed that I had been a student at the USC law school (I never was), and he was using this information to try and attack me. Probably nobody noticed, but that's what he was up to. And, as people here know, I certainly never said anything publicly about myself. So: he was using ill-begotten information to try and shut me up, or to exact revenge against me. This ought to answer the question of whether or not he peddles people's in real life information in an unethical fashion. Again: this was totally private information that I'd never revealed to anybody.

[_Daniel Peterson]

Then how did you come, according to Scratch, to use lingo in your posts connected with USC or USC's law school?

Somebody told me that Scratch might be connected to USC's law school in some way. So, after three years of continual Scratchoscopies, I dropped some deeply-veiled allusions that only somebody connected with USC's law school would be likely to pick up, and Scratch picked them up. And responded rather angrily. (S/he could simply have ignored them.) It seems that, though s/he saw nothing wrong with discussing my income and personal finances and my alleged tastes in literature and music and virtually everything else connected with me on line, Scratch really, really, really didn't want anybody even to know what state s/he lived in. The double standard was amusing, but I left it at that. I didn't announce to anybody that Scratch really did seem to have (or to have had) some sort of connection with USC's law school. Scratch himself/herself did that, at the end.

[_Rollo Tomasi]

Somebody told me that Scratch might be connected to USC's law school in some way.

From a FAIR/MAD mod, perhaps? Did you ask this 'someone' how he/she came to have that information?

So, after three years of continual Scratchoscopies, I dropped some deeply-veiled allusions that only somebody connected with USC's law school would be likely to pick up, and Scratch picked them up. And responded rather angrily.

I think any anonymous poster would be upset to find out that the mods on FAIR/MAD were passing out that poster's in real life information to other posters.

It seems that, though s/he saw nothing wrong with discussing my income and personal finances and my alleged tastes in literature and music and virtually everything else connected with me on line, Scratch really, really, really didn't want anybody even to know what state s/he lived in. The double standard was amusing, but I left it at that.

BUT that information came from public documents and/or your own posts (like the fact you were a bishop, etc.).

I didn't announce to anybody that Scratch really did seem to have (or to have had) some sort of connection with USC's law school.

But someone (probably a FAIR/MAD mod) "announced" it TO YOU. That's the problem.

[_harmony]

Once more, just for kicks and giggles: there is NO expectation of privacy on the internet. Not for Daniel, not for GoodK, not for Scratch... heck, not even for me. I can be tracked down (and I have been) and so can anyone else, no matter how deeply one thinks one is buried in anonymity, if someone with the proper authority has reason to want to harm you.

There is no expectation that one's personal information is kept secret when one registers on a website. Scratch knew s/he could be tracked when s/he registered on the MAD board. Why would s/he assume that information would be kept private, knowing how they are there? Why does anyone think I never post there, have never registered there again, even though I have a new server? Because they could track me via my IP! They have no honor, no integrity, when it comes to tracking down those they despise... and I am certainly one of the despised. So is Scratch.

Good grief, and I thought GoodK was naïve! His naïveté is nothing compared to Scratch's.

[_Jersey Girl]

What about the time when Gad posted something defamatory about DCP and skippy stated that it was actionable?

What about that?

Gad went on to modify the post he made.

Should DCP have sued on that count?

[_beastie]

It would not qualify as parody if it could reasonably be understood as describing actual facts.

That's why I mentioned how a reasonable person would react. I do not think there is any way a reasonable person would think BYU had some secret drug lab that DCP was participating in, do you?

OTOH, due to his frequent hints, I think a reasonable person could have thought that DCP's post about GoodK was real.

That's why I think GoodK's post is probably safe as a parody, while DCP's is not. That does not mean I think damages can be proven, or that GoodK ought to sue DCP. I don't think he should. I think it will only cause pain for everyone involved, including GoodK.

From a FAIR/MAD mod, perhaps? Did you ask this 'someone' how he/she came to have that information?

I would say it's quite reasonable to suggest that a FAIR mod provided the information to DCP. I'm sure their intentions were good, trying to help DCP in some way, but it doesn't seem quite ethical.