Blackmail

And can I just say that your new user name isn't very anonymous or stalker proof.  Even I knew you used that one for something and to be honest I wasn't really paying all that much attention.

This doesn't sound like blackmail to me, I'm afraid. Harrassment, yes. But blackmail? I don't have a legal background, but I don't think a lawyer would really want to touch it, to be honest. 

The lawyers I've spoken directly with who have seen the exact email have all told me their initial email is blackmail material. 

And can I just say that your new user name isn't very anonymous or stalker proof.  Even I knew you used that one for something and to be honest I wasn't really paying all that much attention.

Yes, but you're expecting an awful lot from other people to make the same connection. 

These people will only look for me as AnnaOnTheMoon. The idea wouldn't occur to them to check for BeccaJaneStClair, since it's not a name I use at all anywhere other than my personal website I registered in 2001. BeccaJaneStClair isn't actually a nickname of mine that's been used anywhere in the past.  I wanted a website in 2001 when my PSU account was about to expire.  I'm Rebecca Jane, and my favourite BNL song is a song called "Jane" and the first line in the song is "the girl works at the store, sweet Jane St Clair", so I ran the two together to get the name for my personal website.

Meg, just to clarify, this has nothing to do with BNL. [...] Although I can probably safely say that it has to do with a well-known BBC Scifi show.

Sorry for the mix-up - you mentioned the BNL site and I assumed it was the same one.  TW wank, then.

Meg, are you suggesting I just omit the part about Tim and his LJ, and just lead in with "berore I reply..." and then go straight into the "talked to DH" part?

I'm suggesting that you streamline your reply to include just the facts, presented in a neutral, business-like manner.  I'd probably say something like:

"First things first: asking someone to do one thing, then threatening to harm that person in some way if your demands are not met, is indeed blackmail, and the lawyer I've spoken to regarding the email you sent has told me that it would be well within my rights to pursue legal action against you simply based on the statements you have made.

That said, I am not interested in escalating this matter.  I have spoken to Dreamhost and have learned that since the domain expires in less than five days, it cannot be transferred unless I pay to renew the site for another year.  A transfer can take as long as ten business days, and if the domain expires in the middle of the transfer, the transfer fails.   If I have to pay for another year, I'd expect to be keeping the domain for another year; however, if you are interested in purchasing the domain from me, I am willing to entertain offers."

Short, simple, and to the point - and most importantly, nothing that can be used to ruin your rep (or as fodder for F_W - because, quite honestly, DW/TW fans are no strangers to F_W).

See, I'd go more for...

"If you carry out your proposed course of action, I will have no choice but to present evidence to the police of your threats, which is considered attempted blackmail under UK law. I will also be pursuing a civil action for defamation (refer to case linked to earlier). I have been advised that I can win substantial damages, and while I would obviously rather not do this, if you carry out your threats I will have no choice.

"Now fcuk off."

Vicky

LOL Vicky!!  It was really tempting to use my connections in the state the USC lives in to have a cop conveniently show up at her house.  One of my close friends is an EMT in the same area and could very easily get one of the cops to do her a favour!

and Meg - yeah, I know.  TW winds up on F_W all the time...so does HP for that matter. Well, maybe not anymore.   

I sent off an email similar to your suggestion, Meg. I kept it to the important facts, and believe it or not the one woman wrote back a very polite response explaining that she needed to talk it over with the other, but she thinks we can resolve all this amicably.  Leads me to believe the other woman is the ringleader in all this, which doesn't surprise me at all.  I almost can't wait to see what the response is.  I was privately predicting a fly off the handle because she'd think I was saying I WAS going to press charges, not that I just could. The woman emailing me back agreed with me that just a split in general with no harsh words spoken about the other is best, so I guess it's all down to the other one now.  Which, like I said, totally not holding my breath on her being civil AT ALL.

Quote from: mariposa on Yesterday at 01:50:34 AM
Is there a way to turn the e-mail sender in to their own ISP?  Surely this violates the Terms of Service with the ISP.  Even a Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. mailbox can be traced back to an ISP and a complaint filed.  Even something sent to abuse@name of ISP.com (or net) would be looked at.  I hope you can get these people off your back and live in peace soon.
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I can try, but from what I understand, that doesn't really go anywhere...the abuse@hotmail account is just a bucket account AFAIK. But I can try for sure. 
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I once reported someone (suspected pedophile) to Hotmail.  I got someone within 24 hours, seeking more information. 

I once reported someone (suspected pedophile) to Hotmail.  I got someone within 24 hours, seeking more information. 

done via emailing abuse@hotmail, or did you have to go to the site and fill anything out?

These people will only look for me as AnnaOnTheMoon. The idea wouldn't occur to them to check for BeccaJaneStClair,

OK. I Googled "Anna On the Moon" just for the heck of it. And would you like to know what the first result was? It was "BeccaJaneStClair." So if these people are really serious, I do think that you need to exercise just a bit more caution here. 

done via emailing abuse@hotmail, or did you have to go to the site and fill anything out?

I e-mailed abuse@hotmail.com, because I knew of no other Hotmail avenues.

I e-mailed abuse@hotmail.com, because I knew of no other Hotmail avenues.

Thanks!  I sent it to the hotmail.co.uk and got no response, but I'll try forwarding it to hotmail.com instead. I mean, it's all the same company anyway, isn't it?

Hope you sort it out 

You are doing the right thing.  I am the type of person that would say "bring it on" and usually they back off because its usually a empty threat.  People like that tend to look like b*tches themselves, without any effort from me..

So how's this for crazy?

The girls in question agreed to not speak ill of me - and if we do this split of the site, would just tell people I stepped down and leave it at that.

Fine.

I waited a whole day in replying to them with some of my thoughts on the whole matter, and in the meanwhile I get an email that they spoke with Dreamhost and found out the transfer is easy to do and they thought they could do it all on their own, but "we won't do this without your consent".  This afternoon, Tim and I happened to be out and I came home to emails from Dreamhost stating that someone other than me tried to move the domain to a new server!  Seriously, WTF?  Technically, wouldn't that be stealing?  It didn't go through since neither of them are the current owner of the domain (I am), but still.  If it HAD gone through, even if there's only 2 days left on the registration, wouldn't that be considered stealing if it had gone through?

I really think you need to stop co-operating with these women.


Vicky

I really think you need to stop co-operating with these women.


Vicky

I'd also "accidentally" leave my domain on auto-renew and let 'em stew.

All my dreamhost domains are locked so I'd need to go through them to move them. Looks like that yours are as well.

I really think you need to stop co-operating with these women.


Vicky

You're the fourth person out of my list of people who's advice I trust who told me that, and yet I still have a ridiculous desire to be the nice one in all this.  I'm going to sleep on it, and make a descision in the morning (which ironically, is when the site auto-renews)

I'd also "accidentally" leave my domain on auto-renew and let 'em stew.

All my dreamhost domains are locked so I'd need to go through them to move them. Looks like that yours are as well.

LOL! I actually stuck it on auto-renew three weeks ago *before* this mess started in order to make sure I remembered to pay for the renewal, and I haven't yet taken that off.  I was going to, but at this point, Even if they take all the content off before they go and I leave it blank with a big "for sale" sign on the front page for a year, it's well worth the $10.  Really, the only reason they even want it and aren't just splitting and making their own site is because it is the number one google hit for the actor in question (which is because of the work I did when we first set up the site).  They bought their own domain, and have told me via email that they "backed up the entire site incase I decided to throw a hissy and delete everything". Which is also the ironic part, because I've been nothing but calm, polite, and professional in all my replies.  *sigh* some people, eh?

my domains aren't currently locked, but DH emailed me back and told me they were putting notes on my account that I am the only person authorized to contact them and are locking all of my domains for me. (it also probably helps that I've been a customer since 2001 and always speak politely to CS and Tech support, I'm sure!)