Body & Soul5 mins ago
Harrassment Order
Hi,
Just wondering whether I have any options. I run a small company with a popular forum (a few thousand members), and occasionally we meet up for some computer gaming. I earn money from it on a part time basis.
A few years ago somebody started being aggressive. After a while he got himself banned and that should have been the end of it - except it wasn't. He simply signed up again and it wasn't immediately obvious it was him. Eventually it got to the point where the entire forum was fed up with him and I was getting numerous requests daily to get rid of him (again). This is where it ramped up a notch and he started making vague threats against the website and against me and my family. He also threatened to "mess up" the next meeting we had (we did inform the local police of this who logged it but the meeting went without incident). But all non-specific threats. I let the abuse continue for a couple more weeks while I gathered evidence. I then went to my local police and they were a little confused as to what to do - they'd never had such a case before. He had made no specific threat, yet clearly there was plenty of evidence that he wants to do... something. Eventually they decided to issue a Harassment Order by email. He clearly got it as apparently he phoned up the police and started hurling verbal abuse at them instead!
Fast forward and, of course, he's back. I have known about it but he has been relatively okay. I can handle if he posts rubbish - the other users usually just comment on his daftness. However, again it's ramped up, and this time he's abusing newcomers. Remember, I do try to make a bit of a living out of this, and if he scares off newcomers then he's hurting my business.
(He also had a private Facebook page up where he advertised pirated copies of my software but eventually Facebook agreed that it was against their Ts&Cs and got closed down)
The obvious thing to do would be to go back to the police. They said if he violates the Order then he would be immediately arrested and questioned by his local police. Though what happens after that is anybody's guess - probably nothing, being realistic here. However, here's the problem: I no longer live in the UK, and my company is also non-UK (US to be specific). I know that international policing is virtually impossible for relatively minor issues.
So... can you think of anything I can do beyond banning him yet again?
Many thanks.
Just wondering whether I have any options. I run a small company with a popular forum (a few thousand members), and occasionally we meet up for some computer gaming. I earn money from it on a part time basis.
A few years ago somebody started being aggressive. After a while he got himself banned and that should have been the end of it - except it wasn't. He simply signed up again and it wasn't immediately obvious it was him. Eventually it got to the point where the entire forum was fed up with him and I was getting numerous requests daily to get rid of him (again). This is where it ramped up a notch and he started making vague threats against the website and against me and my family. He also threatened to "mess up" the next meeting we had (we did inform the local police of this who logged it but the meeting went without incident). But all non-specific threats. I let the abuse continue for a couple more weeks while I gathered evidence. I then went to my local police and they were a little confused as to what to do - they'd never had such a case before. He had made no specific threat, yet clearly there was plenty of evidence that he wants to do... something. Eventually they decided to issue a Harassment Order by email. He clearly got it as apparently he phoned up the police and started hurling verbal abuse at them instead!
Fast forward and, of course, he's back. I have known about it but he has been relatively okay. I can handle if he posts rubbish - the other users usually just comment on his daftness. However, again it's ramped up, and this time he's abusing newcomers. Remember, I do try to make a bit of a living out of this, and if he scares off newcomers then he's hurting my business.
(He also had a private Facebook page up where he advertised pirated copies of my software but eventually Facebook agreed that it was against their Ts&Cs and got closed down)
The obvious thing to do would be to go back to the police. They said if he violates the Order then he would be immediately arrested and questioned by his local police. Though what happens after that is anybody's guess - probably nothing, being realistic here. However, here's the problem: I no longer live in the UK, and my company is also non-UK (US to be specific). I know that international policing is virtually impossible for relatively minor issues.
So... can you think of anything I can do beyond banning him yet again?
Many thanks.
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