[BNU] Admin's letter: Email is a form of social networking

From: "Joseph Lee" <joseph.lee22590@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <braillenote@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2014 14:10:14 -0800
Dear BrailleNote users around the world:

First, how's your weekend?

For the past few days, some of us might have received what seems to be spam
messages from some members of this list. Also, others might have become
victims of spam by someone else impersonating them. As a result, I, Alex and
others investigated the source of this problem and determined that it came
from an idea of fun, which may have sounded great to our spammers, but it
was damaging to the targets. We'll not go over the entire story as it
contains confidential elements, but all we can say at this point is that the
spammers were caught and dealt with.

As for the subject at hand: one of the ideas that came out of the
investigation was the need for respecting people's lives. Have this spam
plot succeeded, it would have damaged some members' reputations. Not only
theirs would be damaged, the reputation of the spammers would be damaged,
thus the plot would backfire. Adding to the fuel was the fact that the
potential target list included some members we consider totally innocent,
and you can imagine what they would think (and feel) if the plot succeeded.

This case demonstrates the powers of emails and spam: email is a form of
social networking. Just as Facebook can enhance or damage one's reputation,
just as a wrongly worded tweet has unintended consequences, so does emails.
So the admins would like to remind people to respect people's lives when
emailing others, and please do not spam others to bring down somebody
(whether it's for fun or not, it isn't funny). You may as well say, "well,
KeyMail lets me spoof someone's email address by writing their email address
in the email field." We the admins can safely say that this trick doesn't
work.

Now as for the actual spammers: their names are Will Walsh and Rajmund.
Please do not send them spam of your own (that is, please do not anger them
further). Here's what will happen to them:

.         Will Walsh: since Will was the chief spammer, he will be banned
permanently. We're still in the lookout for a possible comeback where he
might use someone else's email address (even possibly ours). And yes, it was
him who spammed the list on Friday, using someone else's name.

.         Rajmund: he is gone. Although he didn't agree with Will, I and
Alex felt it is better that he sees the consequences of adding the fuel to
the flame, thus the same was done to him. I added a provision for him to
come back once this case settles, but the option of removing him permanently
still remains.

As for others involved in this: they will be allowed to come back.

The admin's decisions are final in this matter. If you have questions about
this case, please email the mods at braillenote-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.

Cheers,

Joseph
[BNU] Admin's letter: Email is a form of social networking

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