How To Get Rid of Stan

That's our #1 question when it comes to Stan. How in the hell do you get rid of him?! Well, there are 4 things you can do:

1. KILLFILE him: If your newsreader has the option to filter out or 'killfile' an email address, a user's name, or a header, put Stan's emails and known pseudos in it immediately.

You can find all of his current (and some of his past) emails and names in the Killfile List.

2. IGNORE him: Not all newsreaders have a killfile or similar option. The best thing to do is simply ignore his posts. Do not read them and do NOT respond to them AT ALL

It can be *very* tempting for some people to take a crack at trying to reason with him or to 'figure him out'. For your own good and the rest of the newsgroup's do NOT respond to him!

3. REPORT him: Go to his ISP's or news server's homepage and look for the Abuse department. Here are some generic guidlines when dealing with the Abuse deptartments:

1. If possible, look for the department that specifically deals with newsgroup or Usenet abuse. If you are given only 1 email to complain to and get an automated response giving you a different one, go ahead and copy/paste your original message to this new email addy.
2. If possible, find a copy of the Terms Of Service (TOS), Terms Of Agreement (TOA), or Terms Of Use (TOU) or whatever they call it there. This is the rulebook by which all members *must* abide by. If Stan really is breaking a TOS agreement, then that only adds more weight to your letter from their point of view.
3. Write a thourough and factual letter to the email address you are given. Write as calmly as possible; no name-calling or millions of exclaimation marks. Put as many facts as possible in your letter; do not lie or exaggerate. Tell them exactly why you find Stan's behavior abusive/offensive.
4. INCLUDE FULL HEADERS of a post by Stan in your letter. This is obligatory- they cannot locate Stan in their membership, records, or archives without them. There is usually something in a header that also proves that Stan really is a member of theirs. A lot of times other trolls will deliberately falsify headers so that no one can complain to anyone about them.
5. Try to include one or more of Stan's actual posts in your letter. Do a direct copy-and-paste and put some sort of marker around it to let them know that this is a part of Stan's message and not yours.
6. Show them an established pattern. Tell them how long the problem has been going on and what has been done about it, the efforts made on the group's behalf to dispell the problem. What has been done to discourage him and the results. Not everyone will adhere to the 'silent treatment' method.
7. Have as many different people as possible write similar letters as well. Don't do it yourself or you will be spamming them. It's important that the Abuse department sees that Stan is a big problem for *many different* people. I've never heard of someone getting the boot with only 1 complaint to their name.

4. WARN people about him: The more that people are aware that Stan is a troll and that conversation with or about him is useless, the less likely they are to pay him attention. When Stan gets attention, he takes it and runs with it. It's better safe than sorry.

If you feel that you *absolutely have* to talk with him:
Tell him exactly why you object to his being there and why you want him to leave. **Make it one post and leave it at that.** To say more is an invitation for Stan to draw you into another debate.

While we strongly discourage anyone talking with Stan, it *is* important that you make it known that Stan is unwelcome. That opens the door for all of the above to happen. After all, in order to find a solution you need to have a problem, and if you don't let it be known that there *is* a problem, then that's a signal that everything's alright.

Finally:
Even after all of this, there *are* times where Stan will get booted from one service only to pop back in from another. This does not mean you have failed, it means that Stan has taken to the newsgroup and that you must really put your foot down next time.

Eventually Stan *will* go away. It's just a matter of when & how. Be patient and be persistent.

Back to: Alt.Music.Weird-Al (AMW-A) For Newbies Homepage

Thanks for stopping by!
Alt.Music.Weird-Al (AMW-A) For Newbies is owned and maintained by Rainbow Heron. Webmaster is not responsible for webpages or content linked to from this site or for actions taken by other people. These links are here for reader's convenience and safety.