Unethical, But Not Illegal

Late this afternoon, the Government issued a Press Release. Was it about housing, crime or education, I hear you ask? No, no, something much more important:

The Premier wishes to express his thanks to The Royal Gazette for bringing to his attention what can only be described as unprofessional and unethical behaviour by at least one subscriber to the website limeyinbermuda.com.

It is obvious that the intent of the user, who has added the email address of the Premier to his own username on the back-end of a hyperlink, is to have his personal opinions spring boarded into the political arena. However, hiding behind a screen name will not produce that result.

This is badly chosen etiquette and while we are unable to find a disclaimer for such behaviour on the site, it is hoped that these activities are not condoned by owner Mr. Phillip Wells.

Further, the Premier is appreciative of the fact that, to date, no one has succumbed to the actions being recommended by this user. Whoever does so can be traced electronically.

We are having our ITO officers look into our ability to filter such actions and will request of Mr. Wells that he rectifies the situation.

Oddly, this did not come to me from the Government's Department of Communication and Information, who have yet to make any attempt to contact me, but was passed on by the Royal Gazette.

Regular readers may be aware that the "subscriber" referred to posts here under the name "Tiger Bay". While I do not condone him giving ascott@gov.bm as his email address, I would have thought that it was obvious to anyone who has actually read any of his comments that this person is not Alex Scott. Frankly, I'm surprised that the Gazette even bothered to call the Premier to ask.

The oddest part of this statement is the bit that says "...the Premier is appreciative of the fact that, to date, no one has succumbed to the actions being recommended by this user. Whoever does so can be traced electronically. We are having our ITO officers look into our ability to filter such actions...". I wasn't aware that Tiger Bay was inciting my readers to conduct cyber-warfare against the Government, but perhaps I should read his comments more carefully from now on.

While it pains me to have to spell this out, not every person who comments on this site does so using their own name and email address. Many, for various reasons, prefer to comment anonymously. Typepad, the blogging service that I use, requires commenters to submit an email address but it cannot verify that that address is valid, or that it belongs to the person leaving the comment. I therefore leave it to the intelligence of my readers to decide whether someone commenting under the name "Tony Blair", with the email address tony@no10.co.uk, really is the British Prime Minister or not.

Perhaps, as the Government suggests, posting using someone else's email address is unethical behaviour. But hey, at least it's not illegal.

Update: the Gazette's story can be found here.

Comments

[ascott@gov.bm¡ on 31.05.05 at 22:13]

Phil, where's the sarcasm point for the entire article? Please? Forgive me for sounding like McEnroe, but YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?!

[ascott@gov.bm¡ on 31.05.05 at 23:02]

The most difficult thing posting sarcasm on a site is the damn point so I have to cut and paste it from Limey's "Sarcasm Point" posting...which he ended with the following comment...and how apropos.....

"Thus armed, I imagine the politicians will now stop making comments that can easily be parodied¡"

[Andrew on 31.05.05 at 23:09]

Good one, Phil.

[nicolette on 31.05.05 at 23:34]

Anyone who honestly believes that Tiger Bay intended "to have his personal opinions spring boarded into the political arena." and hoped that some of us would "succumb(ed) to the actions being recommended by this user."

needs to find the original packaging their computer came in, re-box it and return it to the vendor explaining that they are just too stupid to own one.

[Andrew on 31.05.05 at 23:40]

Please, Phil, please tell me this is a joke.

If not...I think we're in alot more trouble than any of us could imagine

[The Limey on 31.05.05 at 23:45]

No, this is absolutely serious.

[loki on 01.06.05 at 00:03]

Oh, Jesus. Oh, the humanity..........

[zp on 01.06.05 at 00:04]

What an odd way to address this; I’m trying to figure out why a press release would be used in this circumstance other than to give the site more publicity and to invite whatever it is they are trying to repel……hmmmm, I sense maybe a story or scandal is about to surface and this may be an opportunistic diversion…..what else could explain it?!?! Your response Phil, is a masterstroke.

[Adjustah on 01.06.05 at 04:30]

Particularly frightening, and most Orwellian, to know that we are being 'traced electronically' by the Government ITO.

Where to begin? I'd say something pithy and witty, but it might get us all arrested.

[Bill Cook on 01.06.05 at 08:21]

Phil,
I contribute commentary in a world wide variety of newspaper forums and as a member of anti war orgs. and human rights forums,etc

In all instances I am required to give my name and e mail address etc.thats verifiable.

As monitor you should be able to do the same perhaps but as all other site monitors do not contribute to the discussions, so maybe you need to have a neutral person to censor unsuitable bloggers, as you face the criticism as you own the site, Hmmm Stanley Lowe perhaps !!

[Eric on 01.06.05 at 08:23]

It would be a pretty impressive feat for the Bermuda government to have any sway over what email address can be submitted into a form on a site which is run out of the US, let alone filter it or control it. Considering the US government has a hard enough time with that, Bermuda is essentially never going to be able to do that.

It is also essentially not feasible for them to track it either - although they could easily request IP addresses from Phil (and he has ever right to ignore them or even say he has no records of such things), or approach TypePad for the same things (that is likely a dead end), or they could tell every ISP on the island that they need to sniff all connections attempting to hit this website and then log that traffic - but even that would be 1) retarded and impractical (so maybe they will try it), and 2) not guaranteed to find the person since they could be in any other country or using a secure anon proxy (although I doubt the proxy part).

That said, I am very glad they released this well informed notice since up until this very point, I had actually been dictating my life solely by that which was written by Tiger Bay.
Now that the news is out that it isn't really Alex Scott, I am forced to question the very fabric of my being.
I don't know who to trust any more. Somebody hold me.

[Eric on 01.06.05 at 08:25]

Hey Bill, sounds like you need to start your own site - you have a lot of ideas.

[Somers on 01.06.05 at 08:28]

Oh please... like the ITO could trace their way out of a paper bag.
Whatever.

Just another highlight of gov resources being wasted. Probably took them all day to write that garbage - a whole press release over nothing. A simple phone call or email to Phil would have been more effective. Phil could have given us the same slap on the wrist and the gov wouldn't have looked so daft.

This government ticks me off.

[Terry on 01.06.05 at 08:31]

Since I am going Blind, my bother installed a voice enhancer to my computer. The only problem with it, I find, that it will not activate swear words, or let me hear from whom the article was written. I am sort of 'left in the dark' so to say. I miss a lot of good stuff and have to try and 'listen between the lines.

My brother has offered to install a Brailed Screen for me but my Wife says its too expensive, and with the price of Windex and wipes I could loose some of my SPOTS and ridges. It also makes the screen smudgy.

I will get my Wife to write a letter to Mr. Scott, the man on the Hill. I will tell him what I think and no holes bard.

I guess then he will send the Mail Police after me, and I will have to go to Court for my expression of FREE Speach/speech. Now let me go and speak to my son's old friend R2 D2.

[canuck on 01.06.05 at 08:36]

the same ITO officers who wiped out priceless government records and documents recently?

"...the
Premier is appreciative of the fact that, to date, no one has
succumbed to the actions being recommended by this user. Whoever
does so can be traced electronically. We are having our ITO officers
look into our ability to filter such actions...".

[Somers on 01.06.05 at 08:49]

"the same ITO officers who wiped out priceless government records and documents recently?"

Would this be the same idiot that erased a list of names in a database that specified whether you were Bermudian or not?

Yes it happened, someone accidentally deleted a database a few years back, and lost a whole bunch of us byes...

[Andrew on 01.06.05 at 09:09]

So, Phil, what are you going to do?

[Terry on 01.06.05 at 09:16]

Andrew, he is probably talking to his Lawyer trying to take care of his u know what, and probably looking out for his Posters too. He seems very intelligent for a Limey. And he's on YOUR side and mine.

[Somers on 01.06.05 at 09:19]

Phil - contact Research.bm. They will be able to assist you in forming some focus groups, poll the people, and conduct indepth research into this matter.
Then after all that, sit back and do nothing.

[Raptor on 01.06.05 at 09:23]

Maybe "zp" is right. Scott is in need of a diversion. Otherwise, why would he waste time on such nonsense? He hasn't even been affected by it! Presumably, if someone wanted to email him, they could get his email address without the assistance of Tiger Bay anyway. Anyone who reads this blog can safely assume Tiger Bay is not "ascott." While it is all very well for some posters on this site to announce their names in full, the fact remains there is a great and often productive need for anonymity on the site. I believe it opens things up--people are more free to say exactly what's on their minds, and that's what we need to be exposed to. I can appreciate the restrictions of Typepad, which is what Limey uses; I would be more comfortable giving my real email address (to Limey only) if it were confidential. For now, I need to be out here WITHOUT STEREOTYPES ATTACHED. As for Premier Scott--please get back to work as soon as possible (crime/economy/learning parliamentary procedure/etc.) and stop this fullishness.

[sleepy on 01.06.05 at 09:23]

Good to see Ayo's earning his dollars over at Gov Info Serv.

[No One Special on 01.06.05 at 09:29]

I am not sure whether I should even post this now but I just wanted to say that I have NEVER been fond of the Premier. There is just something about him that I can't stand. I guess I will just leave it at that!!

[ace on 01.06.05 at 09:43]

From my read of this it appears that the RG brought the e-mail address issue to the attention of the government and they (govt)responded.

Today it is front page news.

Sounds more like RG was trying to make something out of nothing, as opposed to government.

.....and I'd like to go on record that I was just kidding about the mental image of Alex Scott being spanked by Sir Vereker in that other thread....m'kay ;)

[jake on 01.06.05 at 10:19]

I was hoping it was a joke.

The PLP under Alex Scott are losing more credibility by the day. Alex, you have got to stop.

When you take yourself too seriously, no one else does.

I want you to know this, Alex, you lead the PLP today, but do not represent my views or my approach to political thought.

I hope Tiger comes back. What are we now - some electronic inquisition?

What would this site be without loki, Tiger, J Galt, ace, Onion and many others who cover a wide range of opinions?

This site is a chance to talk to people frankly without fear of censureship or retribution. We do not have that in the real world, so we use it here.

Both black people (like me) and white people (like many other posters) are learning that there is a huge diversity of opinion in our communities. We agree on issues and disagree on issues, not solely based on race. That is as important a lesson as could be learned.

Satire and ridicule are good for politics. It relieves the stress of one man ruling another. You may be the man, Alex, but here you are just another voice in the electronic darkness who must earn the right to be listened to, or face articulate (at times) debate.

I am going to have a talk with you, Alvin Williams and Alex Scott, and I am going to talk to you about how to build bridges - real bridges with people who will never vote for you, but still matter a whole lot.

I am a PLP supporter from way back before Alaska Hall was renovated, and I was there when the building was on fire and we cleaned and repainted it in a day in prep for Sir Lyndon's opening day speech.

I spent time at Browne & Wade before the building was sold, and I sat with Freddie in the barbershop on Reid Street extension, debating the issues of the day.

I have as much PLP credentials as any of you - and I LIKE THIS SITE!

Surely you can consider that before you scare people into not speaking up. That is what you and I fought against for way too long, to now bring it back. No one ever thought Tiger was you.
We thought she or he was a white Bermudian taking the piss - as they do - and guess what - it is ok.

If I am going to get in trouble over my comments believe me, I can take it. I will not standby and have you do this great wrong.

This is an attempt at censureship.

[Raptor on 01.06.05 at 10:26]

Jake: Nice, nice post.

[Guilden M. Gilbert, Jr. on 01.06.05 at 10:31]

Jake,

Very well said. If you don't want to be criticised or be the target of satire stay out of politics. At the end for the day politics is really just one big satire anyway.

Wasting time on a press release over this says a great deal about Alex as the leader of the country. Surely there are more important issues going on in Bermuda than this. Aren't there?

Many of Tiger's comments give us all a good chuckle and a great many of them make a whole lot of sense.

[loki on 01.06.05 at 10:51]

Nicely said, Jake.

Tiger, come back, please!

What is utterly shocking about this scenario is that Alex Scott appears to be so out of touch and devoid of humour that he was unable to see that Tiger's use of ascott@gov.bm was nothing more than a light-hearted and cheeky joke at, admittedly, Mr. Scott's expense. Unbelievable. When people have to ask Phil why he missed out the sarcasm point in what was obviously a humourous and entirely fictious press-release, only to find out that the press-release is genuine, you know we have a problem.

[Onion on 01.06.05 at 11:00]

I must say, I initially thought Limey was joking when he wrote that. I cannot believe that this warranted a full government press release.

How about a nice press release keeping everyone up-to-date on the progress of the social agenda? Or a nice press release laying out a plan as to what contingency plans Bermuda has in place to deal with continuing pressure on our insurers from overseas regulators?

[Slowhand on 01.06.05 at 11:04]

So it seems yesterday was a slow news day for the Royal Gazette, so they figured they would have a look here for something to write about (cause you know the Crime thing and Tourism downturn and Housing crisis et al have been DONE!) They must have been thrilled that they hit paydirt with this story!
As of now, if anybody had been putting their real address down, but was not crazy about being contacted, they'll surely not be putting their address now, knowing that the RG is hot to get that information!
THE MAN needs to get over himself. i think i will be sending him a few emails just to validate his point.... see if they can differentiate a "limey blogger" from a constituent. Filter me baby!!!

[Onion on 01.06.05 at 11:14]

Wait a second. What's going on here? You mean...we actually have consensus on an issue?

I love you guys, all of you!

[Fire on 01.06.05 at 11:16]

Drinks at Limey's house tonight.

[Slowhand on 01.06.05 at 11:22]

"Wait a second. What's going on here? You mean...we actually have consensus on an issue?
I love you guys, all of you!"

Well well!! I now see the light!! This was THE MAN's intention all along... an unorthodox way of going about it, but it seems he can be credited for this one thing anyway.
We must have got him all wrong!

[Andrew on 01.06.05 at 11:28]

This is absurd, absolutely absurd.

It reminds me of the former Tourism Minister demanding a few years back that the owners of bermuda.com clear their forums.

It is emblematic of a Government with no toleration for dissent, no capacity for debate and most of all no ability to recognize a joke.

I cannot be sure who to be angrier at; the RG for actually confusing this with a story or the Government for taking it seriously. Surely, they share equal responsibility for this farce.

I too like this site. I can talk about what matters to me, and genuinely understand the opinions of others. I do not, however, appreciate the RG using it for an easy story, or the Government trying to regulate it.

This is absurd, absolutely absurd.

[Terry (lunatic) on 01.06.05 at 11:39]

Mr. Scott reminds me of the Maytag Repairman. So many are afraid to confront him with what they really want to say. We, as the BLOG BROTHERS, bring it out in the open. Thats the best part. We agree to disagree without getting all bent out of shape. The Man gets more feedback from this site than all his Ministers can muster in a year.

No, the drinks are not at Limey's house tonight.
Lets all meet at the Square One and get this ball rolling some more. We seem to be doing a better job than the Opposition.

Dam I love it when a plan comes together.

Signed:-

Ex Maytag employee.

Ye Ha....

[roo boy on 01.06.05 at 11:48]

Ace,

With the greatest of respect, it does not take a genius to work out that the RG contacted the Premier first, when the opening line of the Press statement reads "The Premier wishes to express his thanks to The Royal Gazette for bringing to his attention that..."
The RG was presumably contacting the Premier to see if he had been receiving any strange emails as a result of his address being used and then got a (admittedly somewhat bizarre) release which they decided to run with. To say they were trying to make something out of nothing is a bit unfair. OK it's front page news, but it is written in quite a light-hearted fashion - and it has certainly got all you guys talking which is surely the whole point??

[Terry on 01.06.05 at 11:56]

ROO? Who are U. Must be another Royal Gizzard person. Mabe someone using Mr.Scotts secret e.mail address. Always someone trying to stir the pot. We talk all the time. Mabe your French and just don't know how to spell RUE. I amke a good one.

Boo Hoo Roo.

Terry(lunitic) Devoted to the site not might.

[The Limey on 01.06.05 at 12:41]

Andrew

A while ago, I had a chat with Tony Brannon about the bermuda.com forums. My understanding from what he told me was that the pressure to close the forums did not come from Renee Webb, but from some of his advertisers who were nervous about being associated with some of the things that were being said. He decided that his advertisers were more important than the forum.

Fortunately this site doesn't take paid ads, so that's never going to be a problem here.

[Raptor on 01.06.05 at 13:24]

When I read Limey's post, "Unethical, But Not Illegal," this morning, I too thought initially that it was a joke.

I think Tiger Bay would like to feel/know the Premier is reading Limey's blog, because a lot of interesting discussion goes on here. Like everyone else, Scott could learn from it. What T.B. did was harmless and amusing, and anyone used to the site and seeing that address would probably laugh heartily.

I totally disagree with "roo" that the RG front-page article was written in a "quite light-hearted fashion." The title, "Premier Not a Blogger," sounded potentially amusing, but nothing thereafter was. It was very heavily weighted to the Premier's response, seeming to take it seriously indeed. I believe the article could have been written with a lot more balance, explaining the site, all the work Phil contributes, etc., and introducing some humor (which was not otherwise there).

The title aside, it’s chilling to come across a front-page statement that the Government Communications Director “promises to investigate the matter.” And that the government’s Press Statement “accuses.” What a laundry list of very testy words: “unprofessional, unethical, badly-chosen etiquette, fraudulent listing….” What a very poor response from Scott and his cohorts! This is a blog, an open forum (and, as such, I guess it’s scary for some people). Get a sense of humour! Right now you sound threatening and censorious. Coming on top of the latest parliamentary debacle, this just confirms your attitudes and makes you look worse.

While I’m writing, I’d like to point out that “jake” actually referred to Tiger Bay as “she/he.” Wow! “Terry” referred to contributors on the site as the “Blog Brothers.” That’s cute, but…. Why is there an assumption that everyone on the site is a man? I think you might be surprised that some contributors with really tough pen names could be women! Watch the stereotypes…please!

[Martin on 01.06.05 at 13:27]

Well - I guess "they" (be it RG or Scotty) have my email address already.

That said, despite the great responses to the issue so far, this matter seems pretty serious to me and in no way should be allowed to go away. The "man" is clearly a very nasty piece of work and the RG hasn't gained any brownie points from me either.

There is no point repeating what has already been said in an excellent way by Loki and Andrew et al, but this stinks and is a disgrace.

Vote PLP??? - give me a break. It's time to get rid.

[Terry on 01.06.05 at 13:27]

If I read you correctly, The Brannon's are still trying to keep a grip on things? When they pay your salary let me know. I will double it.
And too Mr. Brannon, if your backers wish to withdraw their support your a bigger fool that your Father. We speak the truth and personal things that effect every Bermudian, not just you die hard Front Street has beens. If this is deleted, Phil your still doing a great job. Mabe we all should open a Club and call it 'Four Sides' At least people will know they can come in on any side of anything.

[Terry on 01.06.05 at 13:35]

Here we go again. I love it. My use of the term 'Blog Brothers' was just what came into my head at the time. Your inferance is not warranted. Let me be, again the nice guy/girl here, 'Thanks for all the great stories and opinons from all the BLOGGERS. Even the little children who broke the code to get into Daddies/mommies/his/her/gay/straight/etc/etc computor.

Together one minute seperated/didvided the next.
If we all take everything to heart, Phil would be blogging to himself/herself.

[The Limey on 01.06.05 at 13:41]

Terry

Tony Brannon sold bermuda.com last year and is no longer involved with it. The forums disappeared from that site several years ago (and were then reborn as the Bermuda Free Speech forum on Yahoo).

[roo boy on 01.06.05 at 14:18]

I'm quite amazed people seem to be taking exception to the RG running this story. I have just spoken to the journalist who wrote it to see what he had to say. He revealed that one of his work colleagues was idly flicking through the site over lunch when he discovered that Tiger had has email address listed as ascott@gov.bm. They looked over what TB had said in the past, and pretty quickly came to the conclusion that it couldn't be Scott himself. They then ummed and aahed over what to do, before putting in a quick call to the Premier's office to see whether he had been receiving any strange emails. When told no, they were content to leave it at that - but then quite unexpectedly received an official press release from Government's spin department later that day. It was, the journalist admitted, quite bizarre - but if the Premier wanted to put out a release which would make him look stupid, then who was he to stop that? It was not as if the RG went out of its way to get a response and they are not in the habit, so Mr. Stevens informed me (although they are often tempted) of throwing Government press releases in the trash.
So lay off the RG I say... they just provided the forum through which the Premier could further undermine his credibility.

[Terry on 01.06.05 at 14:38]

Thanks again Dr. Phil for putting me in my place.
Best wishes

A.Scott.

From Aberdeen.

[lurker on 01.06.05 at 14:45]

A late response to an early comment. You can get the sarcasm mark by typing Alt 0161 on your keypad (not the numbers at the top of the keyboard). If using a laptop, don't forget the Fn key (or whatever). Comes out a bit smaller that Phils sarcasm mark ¡

I am sure the techies reading this will come up with a macro to make it bigger and bolder. Since there always seem to be problems with people thinking that comments are a personal affront of some kind, this works with PCs. I do not know about a Mac.

[Martin on 01.06.05 at 14:47]

Roo...

How can you say "lay-off the RG? Given it might have been a slow news day, but the decision they could have made was "don't run" the story and trash the Press Release.

Can they not recognise cheap political propaganda when they see it?

[George Bush on 01.06.05 at 14:55]

ATTN: Mr Alex Scott.

This is not George Bush.

/Hope this helps.

[JJ on 01.06.05 at 14:59]

Lets all change our email addresses to ascott@gov.bm :-)

[Terry on 01.06.05 at 15:00]

Just one last comment before I leave for the day, I have to go see my therapiss, Ha ha.

Tiger Tiger Burning Bright, to hell with them, please don't give up the fight'.

We love you Tiger, GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER.

[Alex Scott on 01.06.05 at 15:02]

Dear Mr. Limey,
This is terrible!!! (TEARS!) How could you possibly mislead people into thinking I'm posting on the interweb!! (SOB!) I will be appointing a special commission to look into this matter immediately. (At tax payer expense, of course).

Have a good day.