Thanks for posting this Sarbajit.
Let's rebut some of Suchetas's points. (will split it over 3 or 4
posts to enable her to file an apology), if not we can send them a
legal notice too.
1. Not a single message / email has originated (and we stress
"originated") from this group (HJ-GG) which uses a name or email ID
not that of the original sender.
2. Not a single email / message has either (a) originated or (b) been
forwarded from this group using the name or email ID of a deceased
person.
3 No malware / virus has been sent or forwarded from this group.. One
of the reasons we use the google platform is for better malware
protection (compared to Yahoo).
4 There has been absolutely no IMPERSONATION of people (ie. human
beings) on this group.
5. It is a brazen lie to claim that HumJanenge@googlegroups has
created a web of inter-connected groups. This is complete rubbish. The
groups are not connected and won't be any time soon. The truth of the
matter is that yahoo and google IDs collectively account for about 80%
of members in any RTI group. By migrating to googlegroups we
eventually intend to take advantage of OPENID, a system whereby both
Yahoo or Google users can login / post to these RTI groups. In
addition due to "collaboration" between moderators of these groups,
troublesome members / spammers / scammers etc can be booted off all
groups to protect our members.
6. Everyone who has asked to be unsubscribed has been. Almost always
within 24 hours. Our software team have tracked down and eliminated
almost all the spammers and the fake blogs they were using to repost /
forward posts from this group. In addition about 2 DMCA takedown
notices / complaints to Google for copyright infringement and 12 for
spam generation takedown concerning posts made from this group
illegally reposted by a blogger.com reposting service operated by
"Urvashi Sharma" have been filed on behalf of this group.
7. "However, asking members of one group to subscribe mandatorily to
other groups and making their e-mail IDs freely available to every
member is not the way groups are operated on the Internet." This is
100% correct, but it does NOT apply to this group. Nobody here has
made e-mail IDs of any other egroup available to "every member".
Nobody here has asked (or required) members of another group to
"mandatorily subscribe" to another group (such as HJ-GG).
This should keep Ms Dalal busy for a day or 2 while we prepare the
next salvo against such irresponsible reporting.
PMK
("I am not Prakash Kardaley")
On 11/25/10, sarbajit roy <sroy.mb@gmail.com> wrote:
> Here is an interesting article. Must save it as evidence for when the
> cyber police come knocking here. Copy-posting the entire content since
> the article has many (defamatory) things to say about this group and
> its members and policies. Interestingly though, the moral of this
> story is that people using groups should install Anti--virus software
>
> http://www.moneylife.in/article/78/11522.html
>
> "November 24, 2010 02:03 PM | Bookmark and Share
> Moneylife Digital Team
>
> Impersonation on the Internet is creating dangerous distrust among
> major groups operating on the worldwide web. Now RTI activists
> bothered by this problem are taking the matter to the police
>
> Impersonation is not a new thing. For ages, impersonators have been
> imitating or copying the behaviour or actions of others. However, when
> someone impersonates someone on the Internet and starts sending e-
> mails, by posting comments using the other person's name and e-mail
> ID, it becomes a serious matter.
>
> Of late, many activists-especially those working on the right to
> information (RTI) platform-are finding that their e-mails and names
> are being used to send messages and post comments on the Internet.
> This is not only leading to misunderstanding but also creating hatred
> between the receiver and the sender whose name has been used.
> Impersonators are not even sparing deceased members and are using
> their names and e-mail IDs. Some RTI activists, including journalists,
> plan to file complaints with the cyber crime cell of the police.
>
> One RTI activist alleged that a post on the RTI group contained an
> attachment that was a malware (a short name for malicious software,
> designed to secretly access a computer system without the owner's
> informed consent) or spyware. According to some members who opened the
> file, this may have been another attempt to keep track of the online
> activities of the activists in this group.
>
> The use of spyware and the impersonation phenomena itself appears to
> be a battle for supremacy between some non-governmental organisations
> (NGOs). However, asking members of one group to subscribe mandatorily
> to other groups and making their e-mail IDs freely available to every
> member is not the way groups are operated on the Internet.
>
> There is a specific group, HumJanenge-on Google-which has created a
> web of interconnected groups. Therefore, even if someone unsubscribes
> from the particular group, he/she continues to receive e-mails through
> the interlinked network of some real and some fake RTI groups.
>
> What is more shocking, originally HumJanenge was on the Yahoo domain.
> Some time later, someone (he/she is still not ready to reveal the real
> ID, yet) set up a group on Google using the same name. This person, or
> group of persons acting in concert, decided to share member lists from
> the Yahoo group with the Google group. The reason? They claimed this
> was being done to create alternates or backups on Google just in case
> Yahoo decided to close the groups. This appears false, as neither
> Google nor Yahoo have said or hinted at closing any group or groups in
> their domain.
>
> When some members tried to log out from the groups, they found, to
> their shock, that they were being asked to subscribe to three or four
> other groups.
>
> According to informed sources, the 'alleged' impersonation of some
> members was a software glitch in early days of HumJanenge Google
> group. The emails to the HumJanenge group on Yahoo domain were
> forwarded to the Google group. The offending source IDs have been
> removed and there is no likelihood of recurrence of this problem, the
> sources added.
>
> "Adversaries have been successful in using the 'divide and rule'
> policy. Those who want to curb the activities of RTI activists have
> been making these insertions deep and cleaving us, very successfully.
> In the past 15 days, I have received emails pertaining to accusations
> and counter accusations. Deliberate explanations and counter
> explanations. Where are we headed in this melee?" asked one member
> from an RTI group.
>
> Some possible solutions
>
> The problem of impersonation on the Internet is somewhat difficult to
> deal with. It is compounded by the fact that it is not easy to
> identify people from the limited interaction on telephone and on the
> Internet and verification is dependent on the computer. But there are
> a few things those who are bothered by this problem can do, to deal
> with the issue, or at least minimise the bother.
>
> For a start, people who have found instances of impersonation should
> approach the police and file a case with the cyber crime cell.
> Similarly, lodge a complaint against the owner or moderator of the
> group with the domain owner-Google, Yahoo, or whichever. Google and
> Yahoo have offices in India and the contact details are available on
> their sites.
>
> In case one has no way of avoiding such messages or attachments coming
> to the group, it is necessary to install a good anti-virus, malware/
> spyware detector on your computer. Some effective anti-virus, malware/
> spyware removers are available on the Internet free of cost, besides
> the commonly used Norton and McAfee computer security systems.
> CNET.com lists the following facilities: Top free anti-virus software
> - AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011, Avast Free Antivirus; Top free
> malware/spyware remover: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Ad-Aware Free
> Internet Security."
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