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gfre...@aol.com> wrote:
> We had a guy spoofing names in another group I am in and saying
> reprehensible things about other members and their families. Ray
> didn't do anything about it even after complaints.
Most NNTP admins will only accept complaints regarding forging when
their NNTP server is involved, not when the forger injects using a
different server. They cannot admin someone else's server, only their
own. You could complain to the Usenet provider used by the forger, but
then the nym they forge is by the user of a different Usenet provider,
and again they cannot admin someone else's server.
A complaint about a forger would have to be from an ES user reporting
another ES users using the same nym (which means BOTH the comment and
address tokens in the From header), and the forging was intentional
instead of someone simply having the same name as you. Without examples
there's no way to see if someone was intentionally forging someone else.
ES is a free /registered/ Usenet provider. That means you get to use
their service for free, but you must have an account there. However,
AIOE is a free /unregistered/ Usenet provider. There are no accounts
there. No matter what policies the AIOE admin claims to enforce, there
are no accounts to suspend or kill to punish the forger. A forger at ES
forging someone at ES would lose their account. I have reported a
forger, and ES killed their account in 3 days. ES can only admin their
own server, not a forger using someone else's NNTP server. Most users
are accustomed to looking at the From header, even incomplete ones, and
using that as the full nym of a poster. The injection node in the Path
header identifies where an article originated, and that is also part of
the poster's identity. "From: jo...@smith.invalid" (just a comment
token, no address token) injecting from Astraweb is not the same poster
as "From: John Smith <jo...@smith.invalid>" (both tokens specified) that
injects via Giganews.
Was the forger in the other group really using a nym that was unique to
whomever he was claimed to have forged? If John Smith posts in Usenet,
there's a good chance that someone else with equal lack of imagination
has the same nym, and even at the same server. How many times have you
seen different posters using the same inv...@invalid.invalid address
token in their posts? They aren't trying to be unique. Yours is a bit
unique; however, your From header only specifies a comment token. The
address token is missing. Your nym is incomplete. Anyone using
gfre...@aol.com as their comment token but a different address token
is NOT forging your identity whether intentional or accidental. Someone
using "From:
gfet...@aol.com" (no address token, like you) might be
trying to forge you, but if they're using ES while you're using
Giganews, ES cannot admin Giganews to resolve the forging. You
reporting the forging to Giganews doesn't grant them permission to admin
the ES server to kill the forger's account at ES.
Pretty much both the comment and address tokens of the From header must
be the same, and both you and the forger must be using the same server,
so the admin can do something about the forging. But without any
accounts to punish the forger (e.g., AIOE), the admin cannot enforce
their claimed policies.
From my discussions with a few admins of NNTP servers, the complaints
are either misdirected, or not legitimate. The admin can't do anything
about a forger at a different server. The limitations of equal From
header tokens and both users at the same server severely restricts what
the admins can do assuming the service is registered (has accounts).
Also, no matter what nym you elect, you are not granted unique ownership
of it. Just because you don't want someone using your nym doesn't
mandate they cannot. You don't specify an address token in your From
header. Anyone can specify whatever they want in the comment token.