[Air-l] Scholarship or Private Investigation?

[Lachlan Brown]

Hmmm... end this thread and move along.

   Legally fraught to snoop people,
a number of laws, of Canada, of Ontario, 
of the USA and of North Corlina come into 
play here. Contractual matters re: Faculty 
of the University of Toronto and so on. Tricky. 
More come into play when you discuss a 
private investigation in a public place, 
ie this list with 1000+ people, most of 
whom you do not know.

Both your namesake, Barry Wellman of 
North Carolina, and Amercia Online are impacted  by this discussion. Unwise to continue it unless you are raising concerns concerning a breach to your own rights. 
In this case you have a right to make as 
much of a fuss as you like, as long as it
does not impact the rights of others.

Ethically fraught - sets a very bad example 
to students.

Morally? What are you doing snooping via MapQuest the 'suburban crescents' of Raleigh North Carolina? 

One is required to assume goodwill 
in others and to show goodwill toward 
others in the social contract, and
I do not see why the mediation of numerous
communication and information technologies, their institutions public and private, and commercial manifestations provide reason to
 dump the patient work of centuries.

Give the chap a call. Probably a namesake
interested in his namesake. Bother us no
longer with paranoia. 

Carry on, Net Lab.

Bob Briggs, keep your strange-sounding AOL 
e-mail address to yourself, please.

Lachlan Brown

Cultural Studies
Goldsmiths College

In a message dated 2/20/2002 8:25:59 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
wellman at chass.utoronto.ca writes:

> I checked on his name and there is someone at that address at Raleigh. In
>  what Mapquest suggests is a residential neighborhood (lots of suburban
>  crescents).
>  
>  A web search reveals nobody by that name in Raleigh.
>  
>  Is this a well-known scam or spam-finder.

It is not necessarily a scam; if it is, I've surely not heard of it.  But I'd 
also be rather cautious regarding personal mail from a complete stranger 
until identity and motives can be sorted out better.  Many well-intentioned 
folks use the Internet for bona fide genealogical research, whether at a 
professional or amateur level.  Some try to get in touch with people who 
might be related, not only to fill in branches of family trees but also 
simply to make friendly connections.

Cheers,

Bob Briggs (with a strange-sounding AOL e-mail address)
Westport, MA


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