Ok, this is a serious WTF. First, I don't know Kathy. I have never
met her. I don't even know of her. I read earlier this week that she
has been getting death threats about attending a conference. The only
thing I can say is WTF are these crazy people doing threatening
someone. To me, it shows that there are people out there that don't
understand basic concepts like respect for others and their opinions.
I support Kathy in this. This behavior must be stopped.
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/03/as_i_type_this_.html
A couple of thoughts on this:
- The community should help out and find these people.
- Speech
on the Internet is not somehow protected. Threatening someone online
is no different than threatening them in real life. Why people think
that the internet is somehow different than real life, I will have no
idea.
This is not the first time this has happened, but it
is the first time that it has reached such a large scale with a mass
knowledge about this. In the late 1990s, I know that this occurred.
In one situation, a friend of mine (Mike, yes thats his real name), who
can be a little bit rough himself, was threatened by another person in
a development newsgroup. Finally, Mike posted his personal address and
phone number and invited him to settle the issue. I don't think
anything else was heard on the issue.