Subj : Echo Rules
To   : Terry Roati
From : Lee Lofaso
Date : Mon Sep 16 2024 03:41 pm

Hello Terry,

LL>> So please explain why so many Sysops have a fetish about "real"
LL>> names?

TR> Each Sysop speaks for themselves.

Of course. As well they should. However, some sysops never learn.

LL>> Then why do you support the idea that Sysops should force others
LL>> to abide by "real names only" rules in Fidonet? Since, by your own
LL>> admission, "Sysops can't agree on a few simple changes ..."

TR> I don't support or force users to use real names,

No sysop worth his/her own salt would ever do such a thing.
And those who have, have learned from their mistakes and done
away with such archaic "rules".

TR> I actually suggest users to log onto my system using an alias.

That is a very positive step, and shows an open system is best
for all (sysops included).

TR> What other Sysops do is nothing to do with me.

Showing support for other sysops who do the same has everything
to do with you if you are part of a community. And Fidonet is a
community - a community of sysops.

LL>> Fidonet has no policy in regards to what names folks want to call
LL>> themselves - anywhere on this planet or in this universe.

TR> Yep your right,

No exceptions.

TR> however Moderators of some Fidonet echos request that a user use a Real Name
TR> (Echo Rule),

I heard that argument - years ago - from a sysop called Janis Kracht.
She was pretending to be Z1C at the time, and thought up some scheme
that sysops and moderators could use whatever name floats their boat.

Her deal was that sysops and moderators could use fake names, but
nobody else could do so. And since it was her rule, everybody else
had to follow.

So I had to resort to the Rule of Lee. This is the one Rule that
trumps all - to be used only in cases of real emergency. And this
was a real case of emergency.

As Moderator of the CONSPRCY Echo, I deemed all participants as
Moderators, thus ending the "real names only" rule that had existed
under the Reign of Janis Kracht.

TR> many light years ago, a Moderator could request a user who refused to use a
TR> real name could have access to that removed and it used to happen.

The Reign of Janis came to an end long ago.
And like Atlantis, it will never rise again.

TR> There is no chance of this happening any longer for this and
TR> or most any other reason.

All thanks to the Rule of Lee. As well as the Fidoweb, which came
as its supplement.

TR> Yet most online forums have rules and if a user doesn't follow then the
TR> Moderator can cut off write access.

For valid rules (such as hate speech, etc.) that makes sense.
But trying to compel folks to use their real or legal names in
order to play is off limits, as I have noted in other messages.

Google used so have such archaic rules. But that experiment went
aground after only three years, with Google apologizing to all users
for having put them through such hell -

"There are no more restrictions on what name you can use."

German courts have ruled Germans must be allowed to sign up under
pseudonymns to comply with privacy law. This has been expanded to
include the EU.

Facebook can huff and puff, but it is all smoke and no fire.

Google learned its lesson, and gave the maddening crowd what it wanted.

TR> So it is up to each Sysop to decide if a user on their system can use an
TR> alias.

First things first -

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE YOUR LEGAL NAME ANYWHERE OUTSIDE OF A LEGAL
DOCUMENT.

So what give you the bonehead idea that "it is up to each Sysop
to decide if a user on their system can use an alias"?

"Real names" policies are not empowering - they're an authoritarian
assertion of power over vulnerable people.

As such, no sysop in Fidonet should support "real names only" rules
of any kind. It is an abuse of power, and never allowed to take place.

It is also true that some sysops are dicks. And will continue to be
dicks. Those sysops are ptobably beyond help. So I won't even bother
to try.

Participants vote with their feet.

Google learned its lesson.
Facebook did not.

Fidonet sysops can learn from the mistakes of others, or it can
remain stuck in the doldrums like Facebook.

For Life,
Lee

--
Fox News Slogan - Rich people paying rich people
to tell middle class people to blame poor people.

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