I complained about problems with AOL on this list a few months ago and
received a public message to stop bashing them. So I laid back. Now I've
had it.

First, I have a very active list of 700 to 1400 members, and fully half
the bounces
are from the 50 AOL subscribers. OK, I'll live with that.

The problem I can no longer live with is one AOL client who for nearly
two years has been tormenting my list and individual members. I tolerate
the occasional flame war, but this person is so vile and vicious that
ultimately I had to ban her from the list, the only time this has ever
happened. (And she has also been banned from other lists.)

Since then she has used AOLs feature of creating momentary aliases to
log back on, create chaos, harass individual members, and then close the
alias name. It strikes me that this AOL feature constitutes aiding and
abeting Internet abuse.  I have contacted AOL several times about the
matter and received either no response at all, or at best, platitudes.

In the past she has used only vile language and personal invective. In
the latest round she has sent pornographic web site URLs to individual
members and to the list under the headings of "Garden question" and
"help needed", oviously intending to lead unsuspecting members to the
pornographic material. I am wondering if this has finally crossed a
legal line of sending UNSOLICITED pornographic material. If someone
wants to get off on that sort of thing, I have no argument, but is it
acceptable to send it to those who do not want it?

Anyway, two questions. First, has anyone had experience in dealing with
grossly abusive AOL clients?

And second. <deep breath>  I fully believe in freedom of speech on the
Internet. But dammit, I also have a right to have a group that can
placidly discuss gardening without being deliberately torn apart every
few weeks. I think providers should control this kind of obvious abuse,
but AOL has abdicated. In the absence of any reply to my several
messages to AOL yesterday -- moving from polite to frantic -- I intend
tomorrow to contact my elected representatives at state and federal
level. (Hold on - I'm getting to a question.) I also plan to seek out
and contact any agency or congressional committee that might have some
juristiction over unsolicited pornography sent to people over telephone
lines. Any suggestions? Any experience?

Lastly, I would be interested in hearing - by private email, please --
if I am being unreasonable in expecting that I should be able to run a
mail list without the list and its members being constantly harassed.

--
Duane Campbell
[log in to unmask]

When I die and go to Hell, at least I can keep my same ISP