Requiring Real Names?

[mj-hi-yah]

Personally, I'm of the opinion that the folks who think that not posting their full names on the internet is somehow safe, or in some way protects you from identity theft or stalking, are fooling themselves. If you live in the US, there's a hundred ways every day that you open yourself up to this kind of attack. Handing your credit card over to somebody to pay for a purchase in a store is much more dangerous than posting your full name on Martial Talk.

I agree that information about a person can be acquired in many places and the danger of meeting a rapist or stalker or person planning to steal your identity can happen just as easily, or maybe more so off the internet, but just as I would not leave my credit cards or driver's license on a table in a restaurant while I went to the bathroom, I wouldn't want to post my personal information on the internet - it's a good precaution.

See this link for information on cyber stalking:

http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentAction=ViewProperties&DocumentID=32458&UrlToReturn=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ncvc.org%2fncvc%2fmain.aspx%3fdbName%3dSiteSearch


http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentAction=ViewProperties&DocumentID=32458&UrlToReturn=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ncvc.org%2fncvc%2fmain.aspx%3fdbName%3dSiteSearch

From the above link - an article on identity theft, a worthwhile read. Here's one small passage:

"The weapon? Personal information, including the victim's name, address, mother's maiden name, date and place of birth, and the most coveted number of all—the Social Security number, which cannot be changed even after it's been stolen. "Once they have this information, they own you—they are you," Otero says."

This all starts with a name and I see reason enough here not to post it...

 

[LawDog]

If members are worried about I.D. theft then just list your first name and either post the web site for your school, your schools name, location and your instructors name.
I.D. theft can only be done when a persons full name, date of birth and /or S.S. number is obtained. A simple name only is not enough. If only a name was needed for I.D. theft than everyone who had a phone would be in trouble.
Al C.

 

[mj-hi-yah]

If members are worried about I.D. theft then just list your first name and either post the web site for your school, your schools name, location and your instructors name.
I.D. theft can only be done when a persons full name, date of birth and /or S.S. number is obtained. A simple name only is not enough. If only a name was needed for I.D. theft than everyone who had a phone would be in trouble.
Al C.

Having a full name gives the bad guys a place to start though. Then easily through internet searches they can find out exactly where a person lives if they are listed - even get a map to their house for free, and their telephone number, e-mail addresses, etc., and with that info you can get all types of other public records on a person and on and on. For a fee you can get more revealing records on a person as well. So if it is of no concern to you (generically speaking) to have a virtual "internet stranger" knowing about you, maybe showing up on your doorstep, than post your name, but for those who want to remain anonymous, considering how easy it is to find someone, I don't think it is fair to require it. :asian:

 

[Shogun]

I dont have a problem with it as I often use my full name and usually my initials in my posts. If no one has anything to hide, than it cant hurt. some people like (ex; Don Roley) to use their name as their callsign anyway.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Personally, I'm of the opinion that the folks who think that not posting their full names on the internet is somehow safe, or in some way protects you from identity theft or stalking, are fooling themselves. If you live in the US, there's a hundred ways every day that you open yourself up to this kind of attack. Handing your credit card over to somebody to pay for a purchase in a store is much more dangerous than posting your full name on Martial Talk.

I'm all for posting folks real names (and mine is in my profile), but at the same time I think it's a solution without a problem. I don't think it will in any way raise the postv quality, dissuade frauds, or cut down on trolling posts. I feel each of these issues could be addressed in better ways by some different rules.

I agree there are lots of ways to get info off of the net.

Yet for those who are not adepts of the internet, but very physical people who have no problems showing up locally and then grabbing a local phone book and then coming to your home. It is the issue of crimes of passion, or security of those who are working that I raised, not that the current security would make people safe at all. It is just that that data would not be gotten here, and those serious could look elsewere.

 

[arnisador]

I don't even know my real name!

Requiring IP numbers to be displayed is way too dangerous to even contemplate.

 

[arnisador]

Students should feal comfortable questioning there instructors teachings and methods, making them attach there name to everything might prevent that.

I like that thought! The idea of a a board with a rule against posting rank is an interesting thought, though a real benefit of MartialTalk has been "meeting" some senior martial artists.

My view of the Internet has always been that the provision of some degree of anonymity is a feature, not a bug. Kaith's point about an online persona is also well-taken. For safety reasons and for other reasons, including the unenforceability of it, I'd say No.

 

[bignick]

No...the beauty of the internet is it's sensation of freedom of expression that people can get when they know nobody is going to show up at their doorstep looking for them. Like it or not, that what makes places like this tick. I think that things like requiring real names can work on small scales. For instance, my TKD school has a website and a small forum, and we require users to enter their real name and their avatar reflects their rank. This is fine because we all know who each other are anyways and it prevents confusion for people that are just getting into our organization and that would like to pose a question to people.

For instance TigerWoman has raised numerous complaints about her instructor...and I remember threads where she refused to disclose that type of information because of some of the things she's said. And I know others have done similar things as well. That's the type of freedom we have here, there's no cowardice or weakness in it...just good old pragmatism. I didn't have to use my real name and I could feel insulated against retribution for question people within my organization. This is a pretty big site and I've bumped into more one person that I have connections with whether through instructor or organization or even town and I fully understand why people may not want others to know who they are. Just like a anonymous suggestions box, it works a lot better when people can freely share ideas without fear of consequences. Sure you'll always get the jerk that drops a suggestion slip with nothing but obscenities or nonsense into the box, but you just throw those away.

- Nick Olson

 

[47MartialMan]

Sorry to repeat myself, but since this thread is started;

I like anoyminity. I will PM a member about my real name in confidence provided that they do not post it in open forum. The fact a member choose a forum nickname other than their real name is evident of this. Also, I do not leaving a email-same reason. Anyone can visit a site and retrive email addresses that are openly posted. I rather someone PM, this is best. I know of a particular forum that doesn't allow nicknames-only full names. Leaving any one to visit the site, retrieve names, and spam. Also locate people for various reasons.

This had happened to me. Upon my new IP, with my new service provider, I had only visted one site that require a full name. The next day I had spam. Days after I had more spam. The after that, junk mail. The junk mail was linking to the spam.

Now, I can't shake spam. Spam blockers block old spam addresses, but others pop up.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Just a side point:
We hide members email addresses here. The only way a spammer will get your address here, is if you email them first.
Or they give me 250 million bucks.

What I've seen them do is spoof our staff addresses though. MT doesn't sell, rent or give out members email addys.

 

[Simon Curran]

As is self evident, I have never really been against giving my real name (it is my nick after all...) but I quess that just goes to show my naiiveté, I had never even thought about possible repurcussionsin doing so until I read this thread...

Oh well, too late, I am Simon Curran and will continue so to be...

 

[Andrew Green]

So can we also vote on Public stonings for spammers and trolls?

"Real Names" rule is simply a way of having a reason to ban idiots early, but public stonings are good too. Besides, who needs a reason? This is still a privately owned forum.

 

[LawDog]

This year I met with a group of real seniors here in the USA and over in Europe. The topic of web forums came up, all, to the man/woman stated that they and their own seniors will not go onto the web forums anymore. Their overall view was disgust. There is to much bashing done by forum members. These bashers know of the seniors, usually by name only. The seniors aren't afforded the courtesy of knowing who they are communicating with.
The use of "Handles" is ok for normal communication but if your going to question someone's ability you should list your own background, including name.
Al C.

 

[Jade Tigress]

I think it should be known to the mods/ops of the site, but optional for "general public" display.

I agree.

 

[BlackCatBonz]

while i think that some information should indeed remain confidential.........i do think the posting of your real name should be optional. i think the namers are confident enough in themselves to be known and probably have skin thick enough to take any bashing they may receive. the non-namers might have posted once before under their real names, perhaps had a bad experience doing so and would like to start out fresh; or simply would like to post anything and everything in the comfort of anonymity without fear of personal bashing.
i really dont think that posting rank with the name means anything........knowledge of history and the arts is apparent to anyone else with experience. i know someone who has been training for over 20 years with a shodan rank and he is one of the best martial artists ive seen, with rank being unimportant.
in short, i would "like" to see people post their names so that it would be easier for discourse and for the potential of making new friends, but in the end it should be left upto them with their conscience being their guide.

 

[47MartialMan]

Just a side point:
We hide members email addresses here. The only way a spammer will get your address here, is if you email them first.
Or they give me 250 million bucks.

What I've seen them do is spoof our staff addresses though. MT doesn't sell, rent or give out members email addys.

I thought there was a section to send a member email? What is to stop a bogus new signee from "emailing members with spam"? How does this function work?

You would sell-out for a 1.5 million?

A real name has more of a change of being reserached and found......

 

[Rich Parsons]

I thought there was a section to send a member email? What is to stop a bogus new signee from "emailing members with spam"? How does this function work?

You would sell-out for a 1.5 million?

A real name has more of a change of being reserached and found......

If you click on a members ID and go to their CP page, you will see an email option. No where does it state the e-mail, you can type in your message and it will be sent. All os this is manual, and would take a good bot to accomplish this per member.

If you reply directly then they have your e-mail and then you can be spammed.

As to 1.5 Million, I do nto think so, Bob needs enough to buy his own off shore island, and get away :lol: :rofl:

 

[Makalakumu]

Since there are so many people who are against this and there are so many I would hate to see leave, I would change my vote to no. I include my name in my profile because it "keeps me honest" in the sense that if someone wants to see the man behind the words, they can. If so many others that are really great people feel that sharing their name is too much, I can respect that.

 

[BlackCatBonz]

my question is..........to the people that do not want to post their names: what are they afraid of people finding out?
secondly: with the 4000+ members of this site, what percentage of them are pyscho's with the intent of finding the hackers and issuing a "dojo challenge"?
heck a few of them arent psycho's, but still believe in the old, "feeling is believing".
i would wager that most people on this site have good intentions with their posting.......some have a bit more ego than others, while others feel that their ego is on the line when someone talks trash about their system.
it is fighting after all, no matter what spin of inner peace you out on it and people that get backed into a corner tend to lash out.

 

[47MartialMan]

If you click on a members ID and go to their CP page, you will see an email option. No where does it state the e-mail, you can type in your message and it will be sent. All os this is manual, and would take a good bot to accomplish this per member.

If you reply directly then they have your e-mail and then you can be spammed.

As to 1.5 Million, I do nto think so, Bob needs enough to buy his own off shore island, and get away :lol: :rofl:

Not so...I just emailed myself from this forum. I could have posted spam in the mail. A member not knowing this would see Martial Talk in the subject and open it thinking it is about Martial Talk. I dont think my email address is publically viewd here. Looks like here, you dont have to reply to email to get spammed