Prequent Internet surfers were shocked that a newspaper would invade what they considered their private space.

"This is not a published forum," wrote David Holland '95. "I would hope that if [The Crimson] overheard you on the street they wouldn't quote you by name. Netnews isn't much different from that."

What Holland, and others who felt similarly, didn't realize was that posting a message to the Internet is not the same as saying something to a friend on the street.

In fact, it resembles putting a poster on a kiosk, or a bulletin board. And someone who puts up a controversial or incendiary poster on a kiosk should be prepared to have it quoted in a newspaper.

The only complicating factor is that newsgroup postings can be forged, as kiosk postings can. Just as a person can put up a poster and sign it with someone else's name, so can a sufficiently devious hacker.

Therefore, The Crimson should try to ascertain that a message posted on the Internet was in fact written by the person whose name appears as its author.

But even if you deny responsibility for your messages, be warned that you may not avoid mention in the next day's paper. The fact that someone is forging them may well be news.