The fallacy of anonymity: Cowards on the Net

I was in the second grade at school, when a 10 drachma coin dropped from the pocket of a girl that was chasing me in the playground.

Girls chased me ever since because I was sweet towards them – hence, an easy prey. I picked up the coin, laughed at how she failed to catch me and gave it back to her. She then told the teacher I stole it from her in the first place. I had to prove that I didn’t steal it, by finding witnesses; other boys and girls that engaged with me in the game of chasing.

A few days ago, upon my unveiling of the shady deals and multiple profiles of a DNForum member, he went ballistic on me, with the following quote:

I had to come back online just to say this… if it was yesterday or days before i would not of said it, but i dont care now. Acroplex your an arragent stuck up prick, your head is way to far up your own ASSS, if i could get a flight out to america now i would kick your sorry butt in to the 3rd world. you think your so high and mighty, but you will come tumbling down with the attitude you hold some day! and before anyone go’s and question my attitude releating to this post, pisss off because i have a right to say it due to the way Acroplex has been with me. Anyone know his domain names, gladly PM me. Would love to FCUK them up! TOSSER!!!

Now, I have heard worse threats in the past and I respond in the manner I know best: Bring it on. At 6ft 2″ and 200 lbs, I am not exactly the person you’d want to push around in real life. No, I don’t have steel claws or a mean, scarred face but I am well-trained to protect myself in real-life situations, if needed.

Enter one of the Internet’s elusive species: the Anonymous Coward.

Within days of that threat above, I discovered a post on a forum about scams, claiming that I defrauded them of $3,000 for web design services. He proceeded with posting my contact info from the WHOIS of my domain, Acroplex.com, and claiming he was not able to reach me and that I blocked him on MSN. The only other post made by the same person on that forum, re-iterated the loss of $3,000 for some unknown service – using the same laughable, full of typographical errors writing style of our friend above.

My immediate reaction was to rebut this idiot’s claim with the full facts: using my full name and location I announced that I am the manager of Acroplex LLC, adding that not only such a claim was false but that I never talk business on MSN. The response of some other member of that forum with my full contact info was a lame attempt to unveil an alleged scam. Shame that vigilantism is the norm these days and no-one is innocent till proven guilty.

Such incredulous claims can put a dent in a person’s flawless reputation, both personal and business-related. The proliferation of such web sites, where anyone can put forth a claim of fraud, have shifted the burden of proving one’s innocence tremendously. Especially, when someone – like our Anonymous Coward – does not post any facts: no transaction details, no Paypal or credit card receipts, no verifiable information whatsoever.

The burden lies in the hands of the accused.

So our Anonymous Coward did not provide any supporting evidence. I pointed out my reputation scores at DNForum, and NamePros and willingly gave up personal contact information. Once a claim is out in the wild on the Internet, there is little one can do to have it removed. Of course, this does not mean that a case of libel or written defamation is beyond legal punishment. It simply requires time, effort and the involvement of a legal team.

The best approach with such false claims is to present the facts and let the impact take its course. There are various web sites out there that in extreme situations will spread “good karma” news in various venues, to improve the impact of a single bad claim. The bottom line is, that an Anonymous Coward can do a lot of harm temporarily; the recovery really depends on one’s resources and situations surrounding the incident. But one must always present the facts as a response.

The incident reminded me of a few things: one has to maintain a network of trustworthy, dependable and well-respected individuals that, given the chance of an assistance request, would offer their resources and advice. In the personal world, this is one’s immediate family. In the professional world, it’s the associates, partners, people one traded in the past or on a regular basis with; references and publicly-available feedback to transactions. It’s one’s wordkeeping that creates their reputation.

During the first day of discovering this false accusation incident, I had the pleasure of talking to Jarred Cohen (Mediahound / admin on DNForum) and George Kirikos, (GeorgeK) whose phone-calls offered me valuable information and the opportunity to break the voiceless/faceless medium of forum interaction. In the near future, I look forward to making even more such connections and meeting with more people of the wonderful world of domaining.

The Anonymous Coward is back inside his deep, dark cave of insanity.