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	franzen 2013-03-21 02:34 am UTC (link)
	I honestly can't believe that nobody checked the IPs sooner. I know 2003 was an earlier, more innocent time, but Jesus fucking Christ, it's not like IP addresses were some newfangled magic code. That and the fact that the trolls were just too convenient. ~queerasjohn at least seemed to be somewhat suspicious of how "they" always found Ms.Scribe, but still. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	puipui 2013-03-21 05:15 am UTC (link)
	I honestly can't believe that nobody checked the IPs sooner. IKR? I've also always found that baffling, but I guess I'm just from a different kind of internet background, and also I'm maybe just a little bit more suspicious in general. Amazing. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ekaterinv 2013-03-21 10:27 am UTC (link)
	There are a lot of things I can't believe about certain people's claims. As in, literally cannot believe. Yeah, times were a little different then (though if anything, people were more suspicious of others online imo), but when someone sent us an e-mail six times, we either received it or switched e-mail providers. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	romana03 2013-03-22 07:52 am UTC (link)
	Well, yes, but that was blatantly untrue. (Reply to this)(Parent)

franzen
2013-03-22 02:49 am UTC (link)

I don't know if it was willful blindness or just a different set of norms, but a lot of the shit that went down would not (I hope) fly today. It amazed me then (and now) that so many people bought the "stalking" and "omg so persecuted" wanks, when thinking about it for a minute would lead you to the conclusion -- Hmm, this seems like a convenient way to become popular on the internet.

Weirdly, there were a few people who knew how the internet worked, but I think they stayed far to the side. Flourish was the one who did the code for FA and was a teenager at the time (I think she made a statement after the Cassie-is-a-goddamn-plagiarist write-up that made me think she had a good head on her shoulders); I don't think she ever operated as a BNF or was consulted on these matters. I have no idea how old Cassie is, oddly, and Heidi was certainly an adult. Maybe it's a case of adults thinking the internet is a series of tubes?

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if age really was a huge factour here. I owned a domain and was fairly savvy with regard to these sorts of things -- because adults taught me that everyone on the internet is a pedophile (or working for a pedophile). If a story was too good to be true, it probably was, and that's why you verified. Hell, even the trolls were easy to deal with, since half of them left their web address in the hope of boosting their traffic through outrage.

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	snacky 2013-03-22 03:55 pm UTC (link)
	Maybe it's a case of adults thinking the internet is a series of tubes? Yeah, adults are just way too dumb to understand things. All the internet-savvy teens were on to Msscribe from the beginning, they just kept quiet so they could enjoy the drama. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	franzen 2013-03-22 05:09 pm UTC (link)
	Okay, that was a stupid thing for me to say. Sorry. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

snacky
2013-03-22 06:06 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, I don't really have a clue what that has to do with anything.

I understand why you would want to tell yourself that at your age you would have been too smart to be taken in, but I think it's pretty clear from the Bad Penny report how, exactly, it happened - I mean, I was only on the edges of it, at FW, and no one thought, "oh hey, these random wank reports from HP fandom over the course of a few years MUST be the same person!" Why would we?

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	ekaterinv 2013-03-22 09:28 pm UTC (link)
	I think FW and other sites being taken in makes sense, and I think it could happen again. There are other people who were taken in (or who say they were) for whom it does not make as much sense. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	tez 2013-03-22 11:33 pm UTC (link)
	I learned something today. Time on the internet means nothing. Age is the determining factor. Got it. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	phosfate 2013-03-22 04:20 pm UTC (link)
	What a shame. If only you'd been there back then, none of this would have happened. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	franzen 2013-03-22 04:58 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, I totally meant to imply I knew about her dealings with GT, not that I made the same jumps others did -- that the fandom_scruples and similar accounts were socks, the trolls a little too frequent, and the "Baby" story exaggerated. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	phosfate 2013-03-22 05:03 pm UTC (link)
	Okay! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	franzen 2013-03-22 05:14 pm UTC (link)
	Stupid comment is stupid. I apologize. Foot, meet GI tract. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	phosfate 2013-03-22 05:18 pm UTC (link)
	gives you candy (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mister_terrific 2013-03-22 04:37 pm UTC (link)
	My. Your powers of observation and perspective are so very acute. You must tell me where you got those glasses that grant you 20/20 vision in hindsight. Cuz you know, I turn 53 tomorrow and all that. Mister Terrific Goddamn Whippersnappers, dagnabbit (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	phosfate 2013-03-22 04:42 pm UTC (link)
	Put down the keyboard! There is no place for you here! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	mister_terrific 2013-03-22 04:57 pm UTC (link)
	Keyboard??? Those newfangled doo-dads? Hell no! I use my trusted, tried and true telegraph key! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sepiamagpie 2013-03-22 08:03 pm UTC (link)
	Back to your lair, old man! snaps whip back! back! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	franzen 2013-03-22 05:03 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, I totally meant to imply I knew about her dealings with GT, not that I made the same jumps others did [at the time] -- that the fandom_scruples and similar accounts were socks, the trolls a little too frequent, and the "Baby" story exaggerated. 53 is hardly old. Happy birthday! May you live a hundred years. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	tez 2013-03-23 03:15 am UTC (link)
	Maybe it's a case of adults thinking the internet is a series of tubes? Right. Because it was the dark ages of the internet all of ten years ago. No adult could ever be smart enough to figure out this newfangled thing that had already been around for years. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	snacky 2013-03-22 06:11 pm UTC (link)
	I honestly can't believe that nobody checked the IPs sooner. IKR? I've also always found that baffling I find it baffling how you can read the Msscribe report and not have this question answered already, myself. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	phosfate 2013-03-22 07:30 pm UTC (link)
	It only took a couple of hours to read, so obviously that's how long it took in real life. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SO OBVIOUS. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	puipui 2013-03-23 01:09 am UTC (link)
	Well, it's been a few years, so I should probably go back and re-read. I'm sure it's one of the many parts that seem baffling until you read it, and then I'll find something in the comments where I said exactly the opposite of what I just said upthread. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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