Email Harassment

Q: What constitutes email harassment? An individual keeps emailing me after I've told him repeatedly to cease. Is there anything that can be done?

A: Senmd them ONE polite request to stop, and also send it to his ISP's abuse department ... tell the ISP that their customer refuses to stop sending email despite requests to cease. Save a copy for yourself. If the person continues to email you, DO NOT REPLY TO THEM. Forward the email to their ISP's abuse department, with a reminder that on dd/mm/yy you formatlly requested that this user stop sending emails. Ask them to get the user under control. Usually this stops the emails quickly. If not, ask YOUR ISP to talk to the other ISP about getting users under control. Maybe, depends on what they are saying. Any death threats? Threats of physical harm? Is this person on the same service as you? There are some things that can be done but what that may

be depends on specific circumstances. If they are on the same service as you contact your provider. If they are not, contact your service and ask them how you can block that persons mail if you dont know how. Find the contact info (try postmaster@domainname and abuse@domainname)for this persons service provider and ask them. Depending on the nature of the emails they may not be able to help. Be prepared however, if you complain make sure you are in the clear and not just engaging in a flame fest with this person. If you complain and he/she can show copies of your email where you have been abusive as well you may find yourself on the business end of a mallet.