Slashdot Mirror
College Threatens Students Over Email Addresses
superdave98 writes "As a sign that a CIO has way too much time on his hands, Santa Rosa Junior College is sending emails threatening lawsuits to staff and students who have the letters 'SRJC' in their private email addresses. They contend that people could be confused and think these are official email addresses. Sure, I suppose people who fall for 419 scams probably could be fooled, but not any reasonable humans. I can't believe they found a lawyer who thought this was a good idea."
A lawyer will take any case he can make a buck on.
A lawyer will take any case he or she can make a buck on.
There, corrected that for you - we do live in equal opportunity times you know ;)
srjc.admin@gmail.com bite me lawyers - I'm not even in the same country.
Won't someone stand up, and tell the fucking young people that the internet was not created just for them?!?!
I simply don't see how you can be so indignant about the actions of businesses in what is essentially a public medium. Businesses will sue your ass if you take their name or likeness or something close enough to it in real life, so why not on the internet?
The claim in this case is bullshit, and any court should decide so without delay.
Do you have some ideal you hold the internet to?
It, like many awesome things, is military in origin.
Other cool things of military origin include duct tape, super glue, and gps.
Hi, everyone. I work for SRJC, and I have a bit more knowledge about what's going on here than was posted. Yeah, this whole thing sounds stupid, but there's another side that wasn't posted in the Press Demo article:
On the surface, this sounds like a slam-dunk case of big-government run amok. "Sue anyone who uses 'srjc' in their email address? Preposterous! Water-cooler-bureaucrats thinking they can control the internet! What a waste of my tax-payer's dollars!" Etc.
Unfortunately the truth isn't nealy as exciting.
First off, the college has had, and continues to have, isolated incidents of people trying to use the campus identity for their own personal needs, be it political, commercial, or otherwise. Yes, it's easy to make fun of people who don't understand how email addresses work ("srjc@whatever.com isn't from the school? I don't get it. And yes, I'll email you my bank login and password ..."), but the reality is that there are still people who just don't get the difference.
So, if it's your school/company/etc. that this is happening to, what do you do? I'd hope you'd first try to be reasonable and try to get the offending party to stop doing it, which in fact it what the college tried to do. After all, legal is messy, legal is expensive, and 99% of the time it's just a misunderstanding that's easily corrected. But what if even that doesn't work?
Well, before going nuts and trying to take someone to court, how about giving a Cease and Desist letter a chance? It doesn't mean that you're going to sue someone, but it does show that you're serious about an infraction. Great idea, right?
One big problem, though (besides it getting posted to Slashdot and getting blown out of proportion) - you can't just arbitrarily single someone out. If you're going to try to use enforcing some code to get someone to stop doing what they're doing, it has to apply equally to everyone. In for a penny, in for a pound ...
That's what happened here. About a hundred or so people (not several hundred as the article states - I know, I helped compile the list) received a letter asking them to stop using "SRJC" in their email address. There was no favortism in who received this letter - I got one for my email address as well.
Yeah, it stinks. Yeah, I get how people can be upset about this. But is it really worth the hubub? I don't think any reasonable person would think that, if they knew all of the facts.
"Son, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: Never Try
I don't see them having jurisdiction or basis to bring a case that the contents of something as innocuous as an email address (the username mind you ,not the domain part after @ sign) are.
Really? So you don't see a problem with someone sending out emails from "bankofamerica@gmail.com" asking people to log into their online banking? You don't see how that's not just fraud, but deliberately infringing on the rights of the company in question to protect their good name?
Let's bring it closer to home: what if I got the email address "cayenne8@gmail.com" and started sending out emails claiming to be you? Depending on the content of those emails, you probably wouldn't like it very much. How is this any different?
The CIO here isn't just protecting his employer's good name, he's also (indirectly) protecting innocent third parties who might get suckered into a phishing scam.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
This showed negligence on their part.
No, it just shows how 'nanny state' mentality comes about, and that there are at least 700 people too incompetent to handle coffee in that area and time period.
From your link:
McDonalds also argued that consumers know coffee is hot and that its
customers want it that way.
And they are correct.
Having worked in several restaurants, I can assure you that coffee served at 130-140 deg. F. will get you far more complaints about the coffee being 'too cold' than complaints about it being too hot at 180-195 deg. F.
All of you whining about McD's 'hot coffee' sound like Jack Thompson wannabe gits.
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
Thing is. If you don't like your coffee as hot as they serve it a a certain restaurant you are free to buy coffee from another place.
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
Darwin should take care of reinforcing this lesson? You're seriously saying that people should learn that hot things burn by survival vs. death?
if you haven't learned this by the time you reach an age where you are ordering your own coffee from McDonald's then sadly .... Yes. Darwin should kill that dumb fuck before they breed.
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
No, this shows how asinine Libertarian fucktards are.[...]You're an idiot. Try working on that reading comprehension thing:
Heh!Heh!
I seem to have struck a nerve.
What do your so called 'Libertarian fucktards' have to do with the common sense you are lacking?
I, and many others want our coffee served HOT!
If you and your nanny-state proles want hand-held through life, that is your choice...not mine.
Look, buckwheat..my 'reading comprehension thing' is beyond what you can achieve in your limited lifetime apparently.
As far as I am concerned...you, the white mule you rode in on, and your nanny state can all be shoved up your own ass.
When I purchase a cup of coffee, I expect it to be hot. If it is not, I will complain. Period. And I will not be alone.
McDonalds is still in the right as far as I am concerned, and anyone too stupid to handle hot coffee gets no sympathy from me.
Think of it as an impromptu 'Darwin Award' for you, and your 'Libertarian fucktards', whatever that is supposed to mean.
You can be as insulting as you can achieve, but you will not change my mind about 'common sense' playing an important role in our lives.
I'll bet that she does not place her hot coffee between her legs and try to open it when she's driving since then.
That's a plus for the rest of us having to share the roads with her.
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti