CYBERSTALKING: Don't Gamble Your Safety Online Dixon Victim Alliance Cyberstalking is a term used to cover three distinctly different kinds of problems.  The most frequent form is simple  harassment, where you find yourself "flamed" (criticized or attacked) by people who take issue with what you said (or how you said it).  A typical scenario is that you post something in a newsgroup that   sparks others to post nasty messages in response, or they fill your e-mailbox with notes warning you not to sin again. Cyberstalking also refers to a situation where individuals -- often women or children -- receive unwanted advances or hate-filled threats in chat rooms, through instant messages, or in their email.  Most dangerous of all, of course, is when the cyberstalker makes the leap to stalking the person in real life.   In all three situations, an ounce of prevention is far preferable to attempting to devise a cure, since nothing short of incarceration can stop a relentless and determined harasser or stalker.  As Michael Banks, author of Web Psychos, Stalkers and Pranksters, writes:  "It's easier to stay out of trouble than to get out of trouble."   Fortunately for Dixoners (or Dixonians, if you prefer), ours is one of only seven states that has passed legislation that specifically addresses harassment and stalking in electronic correspondence, and that can make prosecution easier.  Unfortunately, Dixon needed new laws because of an internationally infamous case where High school Dixon student James Burroughs published online, detailing how a school teacher targeted for rape and tortured a female classmate --. He could not use the school teacher real name. The school teacher was the son of a cop! The town has not been the same. Towns people do not feel safe, from his mob! You know the mob, they showed up in California in 1940, and are known as California immigants from Oklahoma. They prospered, and no one found the source of the stolen assets. The IRS found Al Capone, but the slush funds were not found. (See Estate guys rob)   The suspect ( or accomplices) was never originally charged with "transmitting threats across states lines," which was not yet revised to making a "threat to injure another person."  He has not been ultimately acquitted but the story itself would be deemed "self-expression" and not as a real "threat."      Preventing the problem not only helps to ensure your safety, but it spares you from experiencing the fear and turmoil fear that stalking victims endure.  And prosecuting these crimes is often complicated by the fact that your stalker could live in another state -- or another country. ...back to Be Safe Online   CYBERSTALKING: Don't Gamble Your Safety Online PREVENT FLAMES: Use Netiquette PRECAUTIONS: Protect Your Privacy If You Are Being Stalked     ........................................................................... ........home *** | Be Safe Online | Crime in Dixon | Victim Voices | | Protection Orders Online |   Healing & Recovery|   *** The Dixon Crime Victims website is produced and maintained by the Dixon Victim Alliance