[MUD-Dev] Re: (no subject)

[Mike Sellers]

At 08:54 PM 12/21/97 PST8PDT, Ola Fosheim Gr=F8stad wrote:
>I believe each individual should be able to control the circulation of
>their own communication. =20

This strikes me as a hopelessly idealistic statement.  What real control do
any of us have over what we say in email or in another electronic setting?
Can you stop me from quoting --or even misquoting-- what you've said here?

>Can you really trust an administration on
>the other side of the earth, does abuse have any significant
>implications for the admin? (it would for AOL) Another point: in email
>you are able to protect yourself by encryption.  But I think this is
>true: a lot of people get very upset when they learn that email isn't
>safe.  I recently read an popular article where "a telecom researcher"
>said that email is as safe as snailmail! Can you believe this?

In practical terms, I'd have to say I agree with this.  Email is of course
incredibly insecure, readable by many people, unless it is encrypted.
However, even with sniffers, the probability that any particular piece of
your email being compromised is about the same as any of your physical mail
being compromised. =20

>I know that admins in muds monitor users for their own amusment, just
>as I know that telecom operators listen in on phonecalls when they are
>bored.  They shouldn't, they are not allowed to (in Norway), but it is
>possible, and they do it. :-(

Monitoring communications for amusement is unethical, to say the least, and
I would not tolerate it on a game of mine.  Nevertheless, particularly in a
commercial setting, there are excellent reasons to automatically log all
communications, so that they can be viewed if needed.  Or at least, I would
say that I favor logging all *in character* communications.  If you have an
OOC area, that should be exempt from logging to the degree that it is free
from gameplay elements and resulting administrative support. =20

Mike Sellers                     mike at online-alchemy.com
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