Saturday, October 1, 2011

From the Moderator

Because of a handful of emails we've received this morning, let us say this:

We have no intention of ever outing anyone who posts or comments on the page. We don't think that this page is doing anything "wrong," and we encourage you to not visit the site if you think your career "hangs in the balance."

But, no, we don't know anything about what would happen if a "cease and desist" letter came to us, or a subpoena. It's never occurred to us, but our hope is that we'd react appropriately. If some legal action forced us to take the site down, we would do our best not to "cooperate with authorities who might be after [you]."

We're happy to delete any past comments or posts you have been a part of; simply email us and let us know which ones they are.

14 comments:

  1. I can't believe the things people think and then send as emails to the moderator.

    I do agree though. If this site frightens you, or if the idea of being associated in ANY way (even as someone who knows the URL!), please try to erase it from your memory. I think bleach works, right in the left ear.

    No, God, don't do that. Someone will write the moderator about the bleach instructions.

    Never mind.

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  2. For the record, there is no legal case against this blog. This is an anonymous blog, and even the slightest attempt to obscure names means that you can have plausible deniability ("I'm sorry that your student had an identical experience, but this was a fictional story I made up for the purposes of the blog). The cease and desist order could only have effect if there were copyright material being posted on this blog without consent/payment/attribution to the owners of that copyright.

    Really. People talk about the law all the time as though they know something about it. Like drug dealers who insist that "if you're a cop, you have to tell me" NO THEY DON'T. THAT'S A MYTH.

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  3. Oh, dear jesus, everything about this site is "wrong." The moderator is sinister. Evil intentions galore. And those proffies who post dreadful, blasphemous ramblings... they should be tarred and feathered.

    And it is absurd to refer to the "authorities who might be after [you]." Might? I am quite certain they are after us.

    And do you know why they are after us? Because we are bad people. And because they can see into the future. For example, they know that Katie and I will will run away together in a few years. Yes, we will. We will be like Bonnie and Clyde. We will abscond with all the CM riches. In the middle of the night, we will steal that chest full of gold from the basement of the compound. We'll evade taxes. We'll even pick our noses when no one is looking.

    P.S. Don't tell anyone, but Elvis Presley is alive and well in the basement of the compound. He guards the gold. He carries a shotgun with him 24/7, except when he is riding the red bicycle around in little circles and giggling to himself. The exercise has done him good--he's down to probably 165 pounds.

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  4. I'm very tempted to leave Bubba's image of Elvis riding round and round on his little red bicycle as the last word on this subject. It seems appropriately absurd.

    But, on a more serious note (and since I may have been inadvertently responsible for triggering this burst of worry/paranoia -- sorry again, Gordo), although I'm not a lawyer, I, like Monkey, find it hard to imagine a scenario in which someone could legitimately subpoena the records of this site (such as they are). We're simply not doing anything illegal, actionable (or, even, at least in my opinion, unethical).

    Based on events of the past year, and the general climate of hostility to higher ed (or at least the human beings currently engaged in trying to perpetrate it), I *can* imagine a scenario in which a state legislator, trustee, or similar gadfly decided to FOIA (or, in the case of a private institution, simply exercise his/her right as owner/employer to examine) computer/internet access records from college/university-owned computers, perhaps even with the purpose of determining who had accessed this or similar sites. That's why, while I occasionally read CM at work, I don't log in there. I honestly think my right to do both should be protected under academic freedom (especially since I'm *not* naming my institution or otherwise identifying my students), but I prefer not to test that theory. There are too many other battles to fight right now -- especially the one for the sort of job security that would make many of us less skittish.

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  5. Agreed, given the anonymity of the site, I find it very hard to believe that, in the very unlikely scenario that someone tries legal action against CM, that any judge with a pulse would ever agree to a subpeona. That's be a complete waste of time by the powers that be at any educational institution. And, to the powers that be, I quote an esteemed Dr, Dr Dre, "Fuck y'all, all of y'all."

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  6. Gosh. This whole thing has me questioning the use and abuse of voluntary anonymity all together. Maybe I should start posting under my real name to save the world wide marsupial population from having to one day answer in a court of law for events set in motion by the concert of my irreverence, irritation and... what was the other thing... oh yeah, confusion.

    No fuck it. This is stupid. I might have missed something specific to which this fuss related, but, and I say this as a proudly recovering alcoholic, Valium is probably the best solution to whatever this is about.

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  7. I'm contemplating dumping Beaker Ben and using my own name. It's better than anonymity. If any colleagues see my name in this blog, I can say, "Of course that can't be me. Would I be so stupid to ruin my repuation like that? It's probably some student trying to get revenge. I must say, these are some clever writings that are falsely attributed to me." It's the Bugs Bunny Defense.

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  8. And now the sidebar is advertising concealed carry permits. That, I'm pretty sure, is *not* the solution.

    Also popcorn and training in taking depositions. I think I'll take the popcorn, and watch Ben's link.

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  9. Personally, I prefer the Chewbacca Defense.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1QI4P0YqtM

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  10. As most CM readers know, I outed myself by selling that piece about RYS to the Chronicle last year. But I still just go by my old moniker here, since that's how this site works.

    I have had one sort of uncomfortable experience about my adventures at RYS, though. An old mentor of mine pulled me aside at a conference and said, "Did you have a brain aneurysm or something? Are you trying to kill your career by admitting you're one of those cranks?"

    I never felt so proud...haha.

    I have mixed feelings about this issue. I think what we're doing is incredibly valuable, but I understand the need for pseudonymity as well.

    For me, it doesn't matter who each of is his, personally. What matters is that many of us are sick of how the academy is crumbling, and we come here to discuss it. And with the protections this sort of endeavor affords, we can tell it like it is, and call it "little if it's little."

    Cal

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  11. If anyone tries to pursue any legal action against CM, I go after the site that shall not be named for slander.

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  12. If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right.

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  13. What the fuck did I miss? That's what I get for going away for the weekend to an interweb-free zone. Actually that part was nice, but now I'm wondering what the fuck is up.

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  14. I'm considering using my real name too, but I don't want to lose my position as Secretary General of the UN, so I think I'll stay anonymous.

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