Subj : Echo Hijacking
To   : George Pope
From : Michael Grant
Date : Wed Nov 26 2003 08:54 pm

Hello George.

25 Nov 03 12:19, you wrote to all:

 GP> @MSGID: 1:153/307.11 4012b788
 GP> That's all I can think to call it -- one of my echoes (MENS_ISSUES)
 GP> seems to have been linked up to an internet newsgroup, in such a way
 GP> that even my regular postings are converted to Usenet format (ie.
 GP> "To:ALL") :|

 GP> How? What? But? Why? :(

 GP> This seems a clear abuse of Fidonet, am I right?

If you rules forbid such gating, then it is an abuse of your echo. You should 
use a Fidonet-compatible reader such as Golded or MsgEd to check the messages 
that are entering your echo in the newsgroup format. If you turn on the 
kludges, then you can see the messages' seen-bys. That will tell you where the 
messages originated from, and all the systems in the path the message took from 
that system to yours.

You should then endeavor to contact the sysop of the system that is gating your 
messages and inform him that such activity is not allowed in your echo. If he 
refuses to cooperate with your requests to stop gating your echo, then you 
should consult the next node number in the seen-by path, because that is the 
originating node's uplink.  You can contact the node's uplink and request a 
feed cut of the system that is refusing to cooperate with you.

If your rules do not specifically state that gating to the internet is not 
allowed however, then the sysop doing so may have honorable intentions, and was 
simply not aware of your wishes. Your echo rules should reflect your wishes 
clearly in that regard. Most sysops will honor a simple request of a moderator, 
however.

--- GoldED/W32 3.0.1
 * Origin: MikE'S MaDHousE: WelComE To ThE AsYluM! (1:134/11)

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