It is with great relief and extreme sadness that I leave the mutiny today ending the sequel to my Mutiny-Wallah gig. I think there may have been a way to bribe the head macacas to hang around the bunker blogging some more, but my lawyer and I have decided against it. I came back on board to Sepia Mutiny months ago with the expectation of blogging on the 2006 elections and am leaving today having spent more time researching cyber law than should be legal (bad pun, I know). You didn’t think I was going to leave without sharing some of the research I dug up, now would you?
1) It is a misdemeanor in the state of California to be sent multiple e-mails after you sent one that said stop contacting me, even if the perpetrator is in another state (check to see what your state’s laws are). My advice: never block or delete e-mails until you’ve accumulated enough evidence, never respond to the e-mails except for a one liner that says ‘stop contacting me’ and file a report with the police immediately.2) Those IP addresses are a tricky thing — they are often anonymous to protect the bloggers and commenters. But IP addresses can be tracked with a court order, and sites like MySpace, Friendster, or Blogspot have a wealth of IP information that they have to give to the police if given a court order, especially if the perpetrator used those sites to contact you. Also, if you do blog, get a sitemeter, and monitor those IP addresses religiously.
3) If you Flickr, photolog, whatever — copyright your pictures. According to blog laws, sites such as Brown People can post your pictures up legally as long as they link to the source. If you copyright your pictures, they are not allowed to take your image. The laws around image copyright infringement are pretty harsh (known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act), and the Google law team is standing by to make sure Blogspot users don’t infringe this aspect of the law. You should copyright your blog too.
4) Save everything, take screenshots (go to File, Save page as…) of everything. In a world where the Internet can be so easily manipulated and deleted, it is important that you save things immediately. Not just saving e-mails in your inbox, but take screen shots of profiles, blogs, websites and accumulating your data. Both your lawyers and law enforcement will be pleased to see that you have evidence to back your claim.
The rest of the list continued after the jump…
5) Blog laws are just getting developed and they suck. There are more rules out there to protect the right to blog than to support cyber victims. As a future policymaker, I find it shocking that the definitions of some of the legal terminologies don’t cover the realm of blogosphere. I also find cyber laws deep with misogyny considering the fierce protections against hate-crimes, liability/defamation, and violent threats, but minimal attention to sexual harrassment. This MUST change. Also, most states have cyber laws to protect only the under-18 crowd, not for adults. Luckily here in California, home to the Silicon Valley technology capital, the laws are more advanced, and the LAPD has a whole division dedicated to cyber issues.6) Find a lawyer asap. The Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society has a legal clinic that specializes in cyber issues, and there’s also the chance you can contact your local South Asian Bar Association to see if they have someone that can help you. Lawyers can write in the legalese that make service providers like Blogspot and MySpace, take down the perpetrator’s sites.
7) Research. There are plenty of sites out there to help you along. To name a few, check out Working to Halt Online Abuse, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Chilling Effect, and Metrac.
8) Be anonymous in the blogosphere, when possible. Due to the civic purpose of blogging on Sepia Mutiny in conjunction with my chosen career, anonymity wasn’t a choice that I had. If I could, I would have pulled an Ennis. Use search engines to monitor your name, make technocrati your best friend. Or if you have the money, use Reputation Defender.
9) Protect yourself and if possible, get a restraining order.
I hypothesize that due to the cover of anonymity provided by the internet, males are given a false sense of empowerment, much like the feeling street harassers get when whistling at girls. There is a DRASTIC difference in how males will react when I tell my tale, compared to women. I have had these types of conversations with way too many of my female blogger friends, who have had similar experiences. I wanted to share my data with you, because I know that there’s always the chance that someone is seeking resources in very similar situations. I’ve said it often, and I’ll say it again — the Internet is an amazing organizing tool especially for the desi diaspora and SM has been amazing in being at the forefront of this. But the tight knit community provided on internet space can also be entirely risky when in the wrong hands.
I’ve been struggling for the past week on exactly how I wanted to close my time here in the North Dakota bunker. Unlike the last stint in April, these 4 months in this Mutiny Wallah gig confronted me with some scary shit. The other mutineers as well as myself, could never had dreamed that blogging on Sepia Mutiny could have led to what it did. I love the blogosphere, have made deep friendships through blogging, and heck, seems like we even have a ‘SM gang’ here in LA that I roll with. But really, how could anyone have predicted it would escalate to this?
I’ve always pictured myself as an accessible leader for the South Asian American community. I’m not quite sure how much of a ‘leader’ I am yet, but I definitely saw myself as being accessible, and have been spending many years making myself a better resource to serve the South Asian American movement. To organize my people for a voice has always been my personal mission. This Sepia Mutiny forum, as well as the act of writing for it, I’ve approached as an activist tool — a way to make lofty research accessible, to make my organizing experience accessible, to contribute to the amazing desi database of the SM archives and to easily connect to an amazing virtual community. I always saw the accessibility as a benefit — a good leader is always accessible to the people they serve — but I never pictured the accessibility as the risk it has become. Which leads me to the questions that have been haunting me since all this began: How do I make myself an accessible resource/leader for the community, while remaining anonymous enough for safety’s sake? Could I have been completely anonymous like former guest blogger TheBarmaid? Or would my research posts have lost SAA activist credibility? What do you do when the thing that keeps you sane (for me it was blogging & writing) is being used against you in the most vulnerable way? Where do I go from here and gain my sanity back?
Am I leaving? Yes. Am I disappearing? From the blogosphere, potentially yes. At least for a little bit. Will I still be writing? Yes, that is certain. I can’t stop writing, it’s an addiction. If it will be accessible on the internet may be another story, and likely under a pseudonym. Do I have a blog? Yes, but it will likely be shut down relatively soon. Is there some place you can read my writing in the near future? You know, I wish I had an answer, but at this point, I’m not so sure. Do I still organize? Yes, and I will continue to work for the SAA movement even if I’m not Internet-vocal about it. In what fashion yet, I’m not sure. But desi political organizing is one thing that I will always be a part of. And of course, if there’s anything that I’ve written, you want to be on a list should I potentially write publicly again, or you simply want to keep in touch after my disappearance – you can always contact me. Just, you know, if I ask you to stop e-mailing me, I’d suggest you do.
So long Mutineers, bloggers, readers, and lurkers. I hope that you have gained something from my time blogging in the North Dakota bunkers. It’s been an interesting journey. Peace, love and be safe.
Fab job on the Sepia posts Taz. I hope you come back (sooner than 2008?) to enlighten us once again. Goodbye, and khudahafiz.
Taz,
I’m at a loss of words. This hits home for me because as someone who puts herself out there and finds nothing wrong with it I have experienced some serious harrassment in the past that I sincerely believe would not have existed if I was not a woman.
I know it has been hell for you in the past months and how it can really rattle someone. I have learnt however that there are good people out there that are willing to help. I had someone from the University of Ottowa stalk me in the most disgusting fashion for a while. I did manage to put an end to it though not legally but by tracking down the person thru the help of the University.
You are going to be fine kid really. You have such a wealth of knowledge to offer to the world. Please do not allow anyone to silence you for it would be an incredible loss for those that look for your words of wisdom. This post is going to be one of very few links in my life that I have saved. Copyrighting needs to be taken seriously because I’ve had writings and pictures flicked off me in the past and it’s hurtful even if it’s not worth anything to anyone else.
Thanx for your time, effort and energy.
So sad to see this happen.
Somehow makes me conscious about my own lurking and stalking habits on some blogs that I become obsessed with from time to time. Ack! An eye-opener.
the sentiment for taz aside… bidi! I may be the only one to appreciate you here – but I do – I really do – even if you remind me of this guy sometimes. :-).
but three cheers for taz.
seriously. let the bed get cold, y’all.
Taz, it has been such an immense pleasure to read your posts and comments, and I’m going to miss you. Please don’t wander far 🙂
Taz,
I have full confidence that we’ll be hearing from you in big ways in the years to come. Here’s wishing you all the best on your many endeavors and hoping that you’ll be back for another Sepia stint at some point (preferably permanently!).
privacy is one of the things i value the most, so i admire those who can expose themselves to public scrutiny and sacrifice some measure of privacy for the better good. it’s terrible that someone took advantage of your generosity to others and has been harassing you. i hope the culprit is caught and punished so that they will have to change their behaviour instead of forcing you to change yours. wishing you well and stay safe.
Taz
At first, when I started reading your post, I almost thought there was some kind of joke involved, but I realized after the jump that you meant business.
Unfortunately, just like Jai, I’m completely in the dark as to what happened and what prompted this reaction from you. I guess it must be really scary for someone like you to react this way. Hope your days underground are spent safely and you can resurface when the legal environment is more friendly.
Take care
Taz, just figured out what was going on. Dang! Very disappointed that there wonÂ’t be any more posts from you, but thanks for everything. Drop a line when you are on the Westside!
Ok, owing to my technophobic nature, I haven’t ever investigated many of the options that Taz mentions. So could someone explain concisely what this ‘technorati’ thing is all about and how it can help security?
Ok, stupid me. I finally had the brilliant idea of actually going to Taz’s blog and reading about that disgusting character. Hope you can shake him off, Taz! We all look forward to seeing you back in action someday.
Tazpac you have a good sense of humor. and now you know. and knowing is half the battle
Taz, I join in the chorus of appreciation for your thoughtful posts on SM. Sorry about the price you’ve paid. Don’t stay away too long though. Been following your work on behalf of the “movement” since the SAAVY start-up days. We need you!
Dear Taz, Thanks for all the wonderful words that you shared with everyone here on SM. and wish you the very best for everything. what you have had to put up with is very painful, very hurtful. but hope that things will get better. You’ll be missed…..
You’ll be the one who is missed the most! Have a great one, O cute one 🙂
Hey Taz, sorry to see your current stint here come to an end. Don’t let some jerk discourage you from continuing to spread your valuable and interesting research and observations. I have no doubt, that when you’re ready we’ll be reading your posts again soon!
Goodluck on any/all future projects! Keep your head high and do what makes you tick.
Enjoyed your posts a lot. Thanks for sharing them with us and do not lose your passion for writing, mobilizing desis and organizing events.
It is easier said than done, but do not let the stalker upset you too much. You can definitely go after him – as you seem to have enough ‘binary trail’ including the deleted posts which should be cached somewhere in the google factory — or just lie low and ignore him for a while. Your call, but either strategy should work. Cyberstalkers are cowards and they need their targets to respond.
i’ll definitely miss your insight and interesting posts! best of luck to you, taz!
I too really enjoyed reading your posts and the enthusiasm which went into them. Knowing partially what happened with the stalker-business, just remember that he “wins” if you leave internet-land for long… Good luck.
you will be missed — i hope you make it on here on occasion. best of luck and i am very sorry to hear about your disaster.
Taz,
Thank you for your work on SM! Don’t let the bastards get you down! Nourish yourself as you try to nourish our community! Good work and jah bless!
Enjoyed your post a lot. Love your zeal for activism. Your activist voice will be missed, but I am sure not for long. You are going to be a’right !!! I will be waiting for you to be back to blogging here again.
kudos for keeping me informed/entertained/making-me-look-busy during my lunch breaks.
Oh, you’ll come back Taz, and stronger. Take care.
aww maaaaaaaaaaaaan!
Taz, I always look forward to reading your posts… and disagreeing with you about community 🙂
Best of luck balancing theory and strategy in your activism, and please resume these public discussions somewhere whenever you find the time!
Hi, I am really sorry to read this and hope this issue is resolved happily for you soon. I am a frequent lurker (and occassional commentor) here and have enjoyed your posts. Thanks, good luck and take care.
Taz- let us know if you need some heavies to get the message across. 😉 Seriously, though, it’s sad to see you go and I hope you decide to pursue a case against this psycho.
Taz, thank you for all your work here. I’ll miss you.
Wow, I didn’t realize when she meant farewell, she meant farewell…even saavy.org is gone…