What happened to Kathy was downright shameful, and during my time at Tribe, it became common knowledge that women and men experienced clearly different behaviors and interactions. Women being far more likely to experience the crude comment or the unwelcome snide remark. Because of the closed community nature of that site, there were things we did in the Terms of Use to mitigate some of that behavior, but net-net those same people would rejoin, albeit w/lil’ reputation, under another alias.

I’ve always been a big believer in standing up for what you say, and that one’s comments should keep from being offensive or directly mean spirited to an individual. If this prescription is followed then you should nothing to hide from. But political chatter and women who openly discuss general issues w/strong convictions often brings w/it high emotions and people projecting, so I’m less certain of how this gets addressed and may side w/you on the need to bring people out-of-the-closet so to speak.

For the normal, sane folks out here it’s entertaining and educational.

But for the wackos out there… it worries me.

However, that said… The things that have been said to Kathy Sierra are unacceptable and the individuals who made these threats needs to be prosecuted. What has happened is immoral, unethical and frankly illegal and the appropriate local and federal authorities should be contacted.