Richard Casady wrote:


I don't think using the name is necessarily it. There is a NG where
nearly everyone posts under their own name, and many have been doing
it for more than a decade. Nothing bad has ever happened. The place
has banned religion, politics, crossposting and acronyms.

Casady

Richard you are correct, but this is what the experts agree is prudent
concerning cyberstalking, Internet Safety and to protect you from ID theft:

http://www.sfwa.org/gateway/stalking.htm

Note:

Be VERY careful to whom you give personal information and where you post
information. Use a "nonsense" password that has no relation to you as a
person; use a combination of numbers, symbols, and letters and make sure
it is at least 6 characters long. Change your password frequently and
NEVER give it out. Try not to keep it written down. Avoid using the same
password for multiple accounts.

If you are a woman, you may want to avoid usernames that are obviously
female anytime you are on the Net, depending on the net.community you
are participating in. (Your first initial and last name combine to make
a good, easy to remember, and gender-neutral user name.) This includes
e-mail, IRC channels or chat rooms, bulletin boards, etc. Learn what
kind of anti-abuse procedures are in place in the community. IRC
channels usually have two or more "ops" (operators) around, who have the
power and authority to ban abusive users from the channel. If there is
no op on a channel, contact the IRCops of your IRC server; these names
are given when you first sign onto the server. Visit
http://www.irchelp.org to learn more.