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Gene Steinberg

Gene Steinberg

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There were several messages that ended up coming from an online troll trying to bait me with increasingly lurid questions about my personal money situation. He appeared to want me to post my entire financial history online so his fellow stalkers can pick it all apart without context and fear monger further about me.

Since it reached the threshold of a personal attack, in violation of our terms, they were removed, and the member was given his/her walking papers.

Those who have questions and are considering a donation are free to write me privately. That said, I know of no other person with financial problems who has been trolled so extensively online — or at all.

One more thing: This newsletter mentions nothing about me or anyone's request for financial help. Let's keep it all on topic please.
 
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Gene Steinberg said:
There were several messages that ended up coming from an online troll trying to bait me with increasingly lurid questions about my personal money situation. He appeared to want me to post my entire financial history online so his fellow stalkers can pick it all apart without context and fear monger further about me.

Since it reached the threshold of a personal attack, in violation of our terms, they were removed, and the member was given his/her walking papers.

Those who have questions and are considering a donation are free to write me privately. That said, I know of no other person with financial problems who has been trolled so extensively online — or at all.
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Sadly I thought of you when I saw this ...

The nightmare of mopping up your online reputation
 
About This Thread

In school it's called cyber bullying. In the adult world it's called a smear campaign. It can cause extreme stress and ruin peoples reputations and livelihoods. Almost every story has more than one side and this thread is for sharing experiences and strategies to deal with unfair cyber attacks.

In my case I became the focus of a group of skeptics on the now defunct James Randi Skeptics forum. I had to write to the James Randi Foundation Board in order to have them removed. I believe this contributed to the distancing of the James Randi foundation from that forum. So sometimes there are remedies.

The Paracast has also experienced its share of over zealous criticism for a number of reasons. It's either too skeptical or not skeptical enough, or it's too permissive or not permissive enough, and there's been a heated controversy over the manner in which it has solicited donations in the past.

However in my experience I've found nothing about The Paracast that justifies a smear campaign against it. So in the future I'll be deleting harmful or unconstructive personal comments leveled against The Paracast or anyone else, and moving contentious posts worthy of further discussion to this thread. The first two are posted above.
 
Viva Mexico said:
Randall, do you use the term "The Paracast" and "Gene Steinberg" interchangeably?
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I use The Paracast as an umbrella term for the collective facets of the brand label. That includes the show, forum, forum participants, host and co-hosts, fan base, marketing and advertising. Gene as an individual is one facet.
 
Viva Mexico said:
Someone or somebodies are extorting Gene Steinberg? Report that crime. Report those criminals! Seek justice!!
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To my knowledge there is no extortion going on. There does appear to be doxing ( as introduced by @Nix above ). So far, in my efforts to get to the bottom of it, the motivation has always been vague, interpreting the seriousness of the allegations has largely been a matter of subjective opinion, all sides have a share in the responsibility, and the drama really isn't all that interesting. Anyone with a little experience on social media should be able to see through it. That's why I moved any discussion about it here. It's really not that important or relevant to what the forum is about.
 
Viva Mexico said:
My mistake, I posted vaguely. Personally, I don't see the absolute interconnect between Gene Steinberg and "The Paracast" in any of its forms. Corporations are not people.
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I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Are you saying that The Paracast as a radio show is something independent of the people involved?
 
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Ron Away said:
Sometimes doxing is done in order to warn the public.For example a paedophile living near a school or online scammers!
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Yes. I suppose doxing could rightfully be seen as something justifiable by those who participate, and the degree to which it's morally acceptable depends on various factors such as the truth of the claims and how those in the surrounding society view the situation in relation to their own set of values.
 
USI Calgary said:
Yes. I suppose doxing could rightfully be seen as something justifiable by those who participate, and the degree to which it's morally acceptable depends on various factors such as the truth of the claims and how those in the surrounding society view the situation in relation to their own set of values.
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I think typically those who do the doxxing almost certainly think they are justified. But sometimes they just screw up, a famous example being Spike Lee putting what he thought was George Zimmerman's home address out online. Of course even if it had been the correct address (and it was not), it was essentially a call to a mob, which I think is a very bad idea, but Mr. Lee must have felt justified in his action at the time (he later said "I did something stupid.").

In its purest original form I think doxxing was understood to be unmasking someone who operates under a screen name online - revealing who they are, where they live, where they work, and publishing their contact information. Maybe putting out pics of them. It's generally seen I think as an incitement to rip into the real person behind the screen name. Sometimes keyboard warriors do things like publish the contact info for a person's former address, say their parents home, when they dox. It's not a nuanced attack; I read it as throwing something out there hoping someone else does something with it. Victory by other means. On the other hand just unmasking the person can cause them to change their behavior - suddenly they have something to lose. I don't endorse it but, under the right circumstances we can justify anything to ourselves, right?

I don't regard releasing publicly available info as doxxing but some do. The reality is the Internet has made things practical that were legal before, but impractical. A document that was in the public record previously is suddenly easy to expose to millions where it was not before, unless you were the New York Times or CNN, etc. I would say there is an argument the law hasn't caught up to the new reality and all the implications.
 
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But posting information from public records strictly in order to harass, troll, shame or defame someone is something that needs to be dealt with. It's very easy to take a piece of information and deliberately spin its actual meaning.
 
Gene Steinberg said:
But posting information from public records strictly in order to harass, troll, shame or defame someone is something that needs to be dealt with. It's very easy to take a piece of information and deliberately spin its actual meaning.
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Exactly. I think it's fair to question those who think they're so perfect that they can justify attacking anyone who isn't.
 
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Gene Steinberg said:
There were several messages that ended up coming from an online troll trying to bait me with increasingly lurid questions about my personal money situation. He appeared to want me to post my entire financial history online so his fellow stalkers can pick it all apart without context and fear monger further about me.

Since it reached the threshold of a personal attack, in violation of our terms, they were removed, and the member was given his/her walking papers.

Those who have questions and are considering a donation are free to write me privately. That said, I know of no other person with financial problems who has been trolled so extensively online — or at all.

One more thing: This newsletter mentions nothing about me or anyone's request for financial help. Let's keep it all on topic please.
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How long have you had these financial problems, Gene?
 
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