In Reply to: Re: Reaper is correct posted by Anon and Proud of It! on 11 January 2002 at 07:49:59:
It will be sensible not to ignore any warnings posted on the message board, such as the Grim Reaper one.
On the matter of hacking, the Webmaster will know more than I do but the content of the website (which you are reading) would seem to be secure. It is managed by the Internet Service Provider who will presumably have strong protection. How individuals go about managing their PC's is a matter of choice but I expect most have good anti-hacking and anti-virus software. It is difficult to see what more needs doing.
On the matter of message board content, credibility is a matter for the viewer, on the basis of references to source data, the content of conflicting messages, content of other messages from the same person, knowledge of the person, etc. The fact that the Webmaster does not remove something does not represent an endorsement of the opinion - he cannot be expected to do credibility screening. Impersonation is a potential problem but it is also easy for the person impersonated to raise a flag. (Which is the real Superman:-)
On the matter of initiatives being neutralized, I think there is a difference between the US and the UK. In the US there are initiatives with shareholder questions, class actions, and unions. An element of early secrecy may be vital to these. Our initiatives in the UK are about getting help from the Pensions Ombudsman, and communicating with MPs, the government and the media. Given the tendrils that corporations have, IBM will know about these soon enough. Whether the details could be known about earlier by reason of hacking or insider information seems to me not to make much difference.
On the question of allegiance, we probably all have an allegiance to IBM, in the way Nigel Foster mentions at least. There is a difference between being against the way IBM is being run and being against IBM. The analogy to football (soccer) that Martin Hughes used at the Hursley retirees' meeting is apt. We expected IBM to continue in the Premier division. From our perspective it has dropped down, through the 1st, 2nd and 3rd divisions and below. If this happened to an actual football club the supporters would be vocal and active - they would be anti the way the club was run, but still supporters of the club.