[thechat] WHOIS & public info?

[Drew Shiel]

At 12:52 15/08/2002 -0400, Sean G. wrote:
>At that point, the names of the girls was public knowledge.  Even if today's
>story was about two anonymous teenage girls, it wouldn't be hard to make a
>connection to yesterday's story about Veronica and Daphne.  Yet most media
>outlets stopped using the girls' names in their coverage.
>
>Yes, WHOIS data is considered public knowledge and is readily accessible to
>anyone with an internet connection and a tiny bit of know-how.  Doesn't
>make it right to further publicize that information, or use it in an
>unseemly manner.

   Are you aware that at least one of those girls was utterly horrified by
the fact that the media stopped using their names? Unfortunately, I can't
find the reference now - I'll look for it when I get some time - but the
gist of it is that by not continuing to use the names, the media makes it
seem as though rape and other abuse is something to be ashamed of *for the
victim*. Whereas what this girl wanted to do was use her name, her
experience, to help other people who'd been through similar experiences.

   (This feeds into/off-of one of my basic beliefs: I've got a hacker-ish
principle that information should be freely available - because it's
available anyway. With sufficient time or money, I - or you, or anyone -
can find any piece of information that exists.)

   Drew.


Drew Shiel                               webmaster at swiftpay.com
                                                     +353-1-2365705
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