My Mark Pilgrim Stalks Dave Winer post generated heated arguments over wide range including copyright, de-publishing, and morals.  While they are all good arguments, only Aaron Swartz bothered to asked me to clarify why I think what Mark is doing is so bad.  Thanks, Aaron.

From FAQ about Cyberstalking:

"Many states' anti-stalking criminal codes provide that someone is a stalker if he willfully and repeatedly, communicates, or harasses another and/or makes a credible threat to place the victim or the victim's immediate family in fear for their safety."

"In many states, the behavior must be "repeated," meaning it has to happen more than once either to constitute criminal harassment or behavior which the civil courts can address. Many states provide, however, that if the stalker is prowling a place where you live, work, or visit, then one stalking instance may be sufficient to commence criminal or civil proceedings."

"In some states, like California, you need not prove your stalker had the intent to carry out his threat. In Canada, you need not prove your stalker meant to scare you, only that you were scared. You do, however, need to prove your fear is reasonable."

First, I assumed that the intent of Winer Watch was to catch Dave editing or deleting controversial posts and then denying it later.  I maybe completely wrong and, if I am, I will apologize to Mark fully and as often as he wants.  Most people who responded to my post seem to agree with my assumption though.

Second, I feel that my blog is a place where part of me live.  Dave spends enough time with his blog that it is not unreasonable to think of his blog as a place where Dave lives and work.  If defacement of websites can be considered legally as destruction of property, the idea of a blog as a place of living and/or working is not crazy.

Being exposed as a lier can damage a person's life or career.  Sustained fear of being exposed and destruction of one's life or career is traumatizing.  Winer Watcher prowls in a place where the intended victim live and work.  The person who set these types of bots on a specific victim is a stalker.

For more information about Cyberstalking, go here.