In message <[log in to unmask]>, Johnna Hodges
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>Greetings.
>
>Prior to taking over, the secondary list owner had resorted to posting
>personal information about another member with whom he had disagreed
>(our topics often lead to political discussions).
>The information he posted was data he collected from
>the World Wide Web and included this person's profession, title,
>address, and other URLs mentioning this person.

...........

>My personal opinion is that this is semi-private information that was
>posted without the consent of the individual.  I also feel that this
>type of exhibited behavior would stifle many of the discussions as
>members would hesitate to post out of a concern that if others do
>not agree with their posting then their personal information could
>soon appear on the list.
>
>I would appreciate any feedback.
>

Here is a quote from our Welcome message:

"This list is not moderated, i.e. all messages sent to the list
are automatically passed on to everyone on the list without any
censorship, though the List Owners will obviously keep an eye on
what goes on! We will accept no responsibility for anything
anyone writes and will of course expect a high degree of
courtesy, tolerance, patience etc. etc. :-) . Please remember
that subscribers from a different cultural background or with a
different native language may quite unintentionally use a form
of words which appears impolite."

My view is that if you feel a subscriber is getting a bit out of line
the first action should be a tactful private email to the offender, and
maybe an update to the Welcome message to include some general guideline
on netiquette.

Best wishes

Max Potter

PS Ours is a private list and we are fortunately a pretty well-behaved
lot :-)

--
I grow old ever learning new things - Solon c640-558BC