Word: fakemail
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...perfect prank. It works best if the FakeMail comes from a plausible source with a real, and well-known, E-mail address. And it's more satisfying if the sender can be there when the mail is received to relish his cybersucker punch. ("Gee, I'd love to meet you in your office to discuss that job offer tomorrow at 3 p.m., Mr. Gates...
...also easy to go too far. A victim of a not so funny episode at the University of North Carolina fell for a FakeMail message, ostensibly from her boss, announcing that she had been fired. The electronic mailbox of a University of Chicago student was flooded after someone used FakeMail to subscribe him to more than a hundred E-mail discussion groups. Still other victims complain of being set up for sexual harassment and threats. FakeMail incidents got so out of hand at the University of Michigan that a system administrator threatened to block student access to the site...
Scott decided late last week to pull the plug on his own service, at least for a while. What persuaded him was a call from a lawyer who pointed out that if someone committed suicide as a result of a FakeMail message, Scott could be held personally liable. "I never intended for people to hurt one another," he says...
...messages. Years later, some well users asked that a portion of the system be set aside for anonymous discussions, arguing that it would allow people to speak more freely about volatile topics. "It was shut down within a week by acclamation," says Brand. "The pathology was exactly what FakeMail encourages-people pretended to be other people and mocked each other viciously, free of any possible reprisal...
Scott is keeping a private copy of every message sent so that FakeMailers can be accountable if something terrible happens. Meanwhile, his project achieved at least one of his objectives: it brought him a dozen prospective clients for NetCreations. One of them was a lawyer looking for a way to gussy up his firm's Internet presence -- the very lawyer who broke the bad news about liability. Scott told him that he was convinced that it was time to shut down FakeMail. "Fine," the lawyer replied. "Just give me a minute to send one last message...