The following e-mail, whose headers show that it originated behind the eToys.com "firewall," was sent "anonymously" to one of the main participants in the Virtual Sit-in.
Its writer, who tells his "little friend" to "get the hell out of dodge," apparently did not realize that Hotmail addresses are not really anonymous.
Received: from hotmail.com (law2-f119.HOTMAIL.com [216.32.181.119]) by mailer.merz-akademie.de with SMTP (Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Service Version 5.5.1960.3)id W42SCM2G; Mon, 20 Dec 1999 18:27:09 +0100
Received: (qmail 25683 invoked by uid 0); 20 Dec 1999 17:39:31 -0000
Received: from 206.132.100.130 by www.hotmail.com with HTTP;Mon, 20 Dec 1999 09:39:31 PST
Message-ID: <19991220173931.25682.qmail@hotmail.com>
X-Originating-IP: [206.132.100.130]
From: "Ken Hurley" <b1g_dadde@hotmail.com>
To: alvar.freude@merz-akademie.de
Subject: hello there..
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 12:39:31 EST
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Hello my little friend..
Build any new scripts lately? I suggest for you to get
the hell out of dodge before the neighbors find out. Mrs
Robinson and Mr Atlers are not nice people.
Have a great holiday..
B1g_daddE
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
The IP address "206.132.100.130" can be traced back to "etoys.s12-1-0-2-0.cr1.BUR.gblx.net," beyond which it is untraceable by normal methods.
This letter fits in with eToys' overall tactics. eToys' lawsuit against etoy.com is not intended to win in court; like countless other corporate suits, its aim is simply to intimidate and overwhelm the defendants into giving up without a legal fight.
Unlike more helpless defendants, etoy has the financial and emotional capacity to defend itself for a while, as well as the network to support it. eToys miscalculated, assuming it would be as easy to quash etoy as it is for chemical companies to silence community activists; the above letter shows that even three weeks after their public relations disaster began, eToys still has not gotten the hint.
Tell eToys investors what you think of eToys' behavior. And tell your nearest lawmaker what you think of the laws that allow it.
