# Message boards / ISP's. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-boards-isps/166333 "2003-04-04T00:18:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-boards-isps/166333/1 "2003-04-04T00:18:38Z")
What is a message board owner obliged or able to do in the following circumstances, and what is the ISP’s available responses : 1. A poster threatens suicide, or mentions something that indicates they are seriously about to commit suicide. 2. A poster posts someone’s name, phone number, etc on the board. 3. Trolling or spamming. My guesses are 4. message board owner calls ISP, ISP calls police, police or support-worker arrives at poster’s house. Is this the ‘right thing to do’ or is the board legally obliged to do so ? 5. I guess the message board owner would just delete the info, and take it no further. Could the poster who’s info was displayed successfully sue either the original poster or the message board owner ? 6. Either delete and ban, or report to ISP, who probably will do nothing. Am I correct ? I would be interested in any legal info regarding these three scenarios. Pretend the server for the message board and the message board owner reside in… umm… Chicago wil do. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-boards-isps/166333/2 "2003-04-04T03:29:49Z")
According to the big message boards and ISPs, they aren’t supposed to do anything, because to take action would be to “violate member privacy.” So you can go ahead and kill yourself, because hotmail and yahoo and AOL etc. can’t/won’t get involved. As for us, well, we try to help when we can, but oftentimes we have very little information to go on. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-boards-isps/166333/3 "2003-04-04T03:39:22Z")
Thanks **Tuba** 🙂 I was just curious because on another board I frequent there has been both a recent suicide threat and someone posting another’s private information. I was just wondering what the administration side thought of the legalities. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-boards-isps/166333/4 "2003-04-04T03:45:40Z")
Here’s an article about message boards (actually UseNet) and suicide. It doesn’t really address the legal aspects but you might still find it interesting and/or relevant: > **[Slideshow: No One Asked Why He Wanted to Die](https://www.wired.com/2003/02/slideshow-no-one-asked-why-he-wanted-to-die/)** > > A troubled young man's downward spiral before committing suicide is chronicled in posts to an online message board whose participants gave him suggestions about how to kill himself. Is the site responsible for his death? Part two in a series by Julia... ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-boards-isps/166333/5 "2003-04-04T06:25:33Z")
Important note about [Usenet](http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?Usenet): _Nobody owns it. Nobody controls it._ It is a loose confederation of disparate machines that relay messages back and forth according to simple (well, pretty simple) rules. There is no center to the network, just a bunch of sub-networks feeding off a few interconnected main lines. Deleting things from Usenet is impossible. As all messages pass through large parts of the network, anyone can archive anything for as long as he wants. [GoogleGroups](http://groups.google.com/) works on this principle, like DejaNews before them (Usenet is sometimes called netnews, and GoogleGroups is sometimes called Gooja because they inherited DejaNews’ archives all the way back to the 1980s). Sending a cancel message is sometimes effective, but that has been abused to the point (especially in charged places like alt.religion.scientology) that not only do some servers not honor cancels, but people have created software to un-cancel messages, reposting messages that have been cancelled. Finally, it’s much easier to hide on Usenet. Here, we log IP addresses, which probably gives us something to go to court with (unless someone is being deliberately sneaky). On Usenet, you can obfuscate your message and hide behind see-no-evil ISPs to the point where nobody can track you down. Spammers often abuse the openness of Usenet. In summary, the SDMB is to Usenet as Mayberry is to the old Times Square.