[Community-Discuss] [arin-ppml] Update on Litigation Between AFRINIC and Cloud Innovation ltd

[Ronald F. Guilmette]

In message <CANanHiw4sexT3NaogQahUedT4qg8x8N_i=bLYrVW01C2MKMSsw at mail.gmail.com>
Ibeanusi Elvis <ibeanusielvis at gmail.com> wrote:

>This "sockpuppet" ideology and terminology that has become an excessively
>overused irrelevant term in this mailing list. What is wrong with sharing a
>link of interest or a link that a member consider relevant to him/herself.
>Freedom of expression is always promoted in this community as long as it
>does not go out of line. Members of this community including the AFRINIC
>organization itself always share updates and links; never have it been
>considered an act of being a "Sockpuppet". Lets stop throwing words around
>in this community mailing list and create unwanted confusion.

Sockpuppetry is not an "ideology".  It is a well-established fact of life
on the modern Internet, just as "astroturfing" is in real life.  If you
don't know that then it is because either you are ignorant or else it is
because you are pretending to be ignorant.

The poster in question is using and was using a fradulent name together with
an essentially anonymous gmail account.  The name given in the From: header
is bogus and is a reference to a non-existant fictitious person, as anyone
who simply takes a moment to google the name can readily see.

This is fundamentally different from Real People posting to these lists.
Real People have histories, known connections, and readily identifiable
employers.  Sock puppets have none of these things.

If you don't like people talking about sock puppets on these mailing lists
then perhaps you should, in the first instance, try to get the sock
puppets to stop posting garbage and unenlightening recycled company PR
blurbs to these mailing lists.

Most of us have real work to do, and if we really want to be bombarded by
commercial advertisments being written and spread around by specific
individual companies, at their request or prompting, and for their benefit,
then there are other places where we can seek out that kind of stuff.


Regards,
rfg