Just in case people were wondering what kind of response one can expect to get from IndyMedia should you question them... Here's what I finally got back from someone named "Erik". Hi Dagmar,
Your comments have been "unhidden." I have a couple questions for you. You have repeatedly accused our collective of engaging in criminal acts in a public forum. You have lied and slandered us on our own website. We are allowing you to do this because we believe in the value of critique. Now it's time for us to ask you a few questions: 1) What would give you the impression that the "Livewire" is anything other than a place to publish breaking news? 2) Why would you accuse the people who have made this service available to the public of engaging in illegal acts? 3) If you are actually concerned about the law, then why don't you do the responsible thing and call the police instead of whining on the Internet? After all, the police have been more than willing to target activists over the last couple weeks. I'm sure they would appreciate the tip. You are a weak-minded coward. -Erik
TCIMC volunteer evildagmar from geemail.com wrote: Dagmar dSurreal sent a message using the contact form at
http://twincities.indymedia.org/contact. I would like a response from someone about why it is I keep having comments
summarily deleted from the site without explanation or any real reason. I
was under the impression one of the core values around here was supposed to
be freedom of expression, and I've not been violating any sort of
guidelines that I am aware of beyond merely disagreeing with some
statements made.
...and because when prodded I become an a**hole the size of which would make most people think I should have my own gravity field and atmosphere, here's my less than polite response (because a "weak-minded coward" I sure as f**k am not), which I will be deciding over the course of the afternoon if I want to bounce a copy back at the same web form as the original question so that the other people (if any) who are recieving those comments will see just how badly this is being handled. On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 1:41 AM, Erik wrote:
> Hi Dagmar,
> Your comments have been "unhidden."
>
> I have a couple questions for you. You have repeatedly accused our
> collective of engaging in criminal acts in a public forum. You have lied and
> slandered us on our own website. We are allowing you to do this because we
> believe in the value of critique. Now it's time for us to ask you a few
> questions: Really. What "criminal acts" would those be? I can assure you that
everything I posted is absolutely true as I witnessed it. Perhaps if
people were engaging in illegal acts, they ought not to be above and
before all else. Not to stop there, multiple comments I made about the false "outing"
of two "provocateurs" were also deleted without comment or
explanation. I made no claims of anyone doing anything illegal there,
just of being incredibly stupid. Unlike you guys, I am *not* new to
the game of "spot the interloper", or more specifically "spot the
fed". In fact, feel free to Google that phrase. The criteria your
reporter used to decide that he had found two "provocateurs" was
laughable, and the way they went about "proving" it was just
ludicrous. Now, if you want to make accusations of wrongdoing, you've
published something accusing two people who are rather likely
completely innocent of being engaged in an illegal activity, complete
with video footage. Way to go. That would be slander. > 1) What would give you the impression that the "Livewire" is anything other
> than a place to publish breaking news? This question appears to be a non-sequitir. If you're asking why I
think people should be allowed to make comments in response, it's
because you've got that bright blue "Add new comment" link, courtesy
of Drupal. It's disabled rather easily, and it still being there
would seem to mean you guys /want/ input from readers. > 2) Why would you accuse the people who have made this service available to
> the public of engaging in illegal acts? Again, which illegal acts was I accusing someone of? I have had cause
to go wade through law books on several occasions, and *being a
hacker* I have more cause than most to pay *very* close attention to
where the legal lines are drawn, and while the idiots doing the audio
stream might have been saying things enough to get themselves harassed
by the cops, that by itself wouldn't have landed anyone in jail.
So... if they were actually doing something criminal beyond that,
that's their problem. Blaming me because your people are idiots is a
non-starter. > 3) If you are actually concerned about the law, then why don't you do the
> responsible thing and call the police instead of whining on the Internet?
> After all, the police have been more than willing to target activists over
> the last couple weeks. I'm sure they would appreciate the tip. I could give two s**ts about "the law". What I care about is honesty
and accuracy in reporting and /ethical behaviour/. Having people
running around trying to have a completely peaceful protest while
punters are still actively planning on doing things that are less than
peaceful, even wontonly disruptive (barricades, specifically) is
entirely unproductive. Part of the problem you guys have is that
you're under the impression that you can ignore the rules of the game
that _the Republicans_ got to write, do whatever you like, and still
"win". *They* wrote the rules of the game, so *they* will win every
time. The *only* way one "wins" against a deck stacked like that is
to play it better than they do, meaning specifically, you *must*
maintain clean hands (like I was saying on the site) or you will FAIL. I know the internets are intoxicating in their power and all, but
having a website isn't the Divine Right of Kings. Learn to recognize
when you're being told things that are true and accurate, instead of
only listening to the things you *want* to hear. Ask yourself, "Why
is it that peaceful political protestors get harassed and arrested but
conventions full of hundreds to thousands of confessed 'cyber
criminals' go completely unbothered each and every year?". But hey,
don't bother to listen to me. I've only had the cops at my door a few
times trying to plant my head on a pike, and I do mean me, personally,
not as the result of some dragnet. I don't get into trouble when
someone lies about me because I'm rather conspicuously *not* up to
anything I shouldn't be. > You are a weak-minded coward. And you're a tosser. *I* at least have the cojones to put my comments
out in the open with my nom de plume on them. More 'IndyMedia' madness | 
