In reply to Jon Corelis:
Dear Jon,
you ask 3 questions, to all of which you think the
answer "yes" is "obvious beyond arguing". i agree on
the first and third, but not the second - do people
have a right to know whether those with whom they
interact are using their real name?
It depends on the context. If they're buying something
or setting up a meet, yes. Otherwise, not
necessarily. There are Net situations where all
parties are happy not to know, eg some kinds of
virtual relationships, which will never get real and
whre part of the frisson comes from not being totally
sure whether "Angelina" may in fact be a 6-foot
Glaswegian truck driver.
Writers and readers of Net-based fan fiction have long
been used to this from the world of fanzines, where a
lot of writers don't use real names (particularly
respectable lady teachers etc writing slash fanfic, or
"real" writers slumming). Sometimes the names attached
are obvious aliases; sometimes they might be real, but
it just isn't polite to inquire or try to find out.
You accept that the writer is using *one* of her
"real" names, the one that writes this.
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