In my three years of internet activity as a writing kinda guy, I've only ever made it so big that one person told me they read my blog. So stalking is something that hasn't worried me thus far. However, with my devilishly shaped head and permanently-affixed sunglasses, I wouldn't be surprised if I built up a coven of teenage groupies that followed me around from hotel to hotel, grabbing hold of the bumper bar on my limo, bloodied knees jangling behind on the road and ... okay, so I should be safe.

But sometimes I visualise or possibly just fantasise what it would be like to have the kind of fame that could attract the kind of fan that might make life miserable. I've known one person who was stalked for well over a year, afraid to mention it to anyone. She eventually brought the police into it, but due to interstate laws, nothing was ever done about the problem. Which is horrible, because it affected her life and her outlook in many disastrous ways. It's not happening now, but she still has to live with it, if only in her head.

So when I read about Patricia Cornwell's stalking problem, I thought it was worth bringing up over here (why does vomit always have to be involved?), just to see what others think about cyber stalking and if anyone has any experiences to share.

"I don't meet my fans any more - that's been a great source of sadness and loss," said Cornwell, who was accompanied by three security guards posted inside and outside the courtroom. "It's dehumanising my career."

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The sad truth, as others have stated, is that stalking (online or offline) can happen to anyone. The famous author and the young woman in line behind the stalker in the grocery store are equally vulnerable. Stalking is about power and intimidation, but it's also about the fantasy of a relationship. As often as not, the "relationship" that forms the basis of a stalker's focus exists only in his (or her) imagination, and traditional responses (restraining orders, law enforcement involvement, threats, persuasion) are ineffective.

If you want to understand the psychology of stalkers, "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin deBecker is a good place to start.

-- Tammy
I've been wondering about that since I decided to put my name on my blog and actually have an internet presence. I write about crime in L.A. They're not flattering things. I haven't gotten hate mail as such. More like pissy "How dare you speak ill of that pedophile that got locked up last week, you unsympathetic ass," to which I either don't reply or give a hearty, "pfpfpfpfpfhhht."

I wonder sometimes if I'll ever go too far and piss off some hatchet man in the Israeli mob, or something, but then I realize I'm not all that important and they've got RICO indictments to worry about, anyway.
I've lived my life without being afraid. I think you would have to stalk the stalker and remove his or her spleen with a putty knife. People can be tracked down---am I correct here?

I do believe stalkers only succeed with certain people types.

I may come off callous and uncaring here, that is not my intent. But, like other types of abuse, there is an enabler.

Am I right or Amarillo?
Not true. A stalker is always someone with a twisted mind. Mine was a paranoid-schizophrenic who skipped his medications. Such a person can fixate on anyone.
Dennis, I don't think it's quite as simple as people enabling stalkers. I have a friend who was stalked (in the off-line world) by an acquaintence. She did everything she could -- from the traditional restraining orders to having friends of hers pay the stalker a visit aimed at "dissuading" her attention -- without success. The campaign of harassment escalated as far as this person breaking into my friend's house and emptying three magazines worth of .45 ammo into her bedroom walls and furniture when she wasn't home. The police arrested the stalker for three felonies, which were eventually plea-bargained down to a single misdemeanor count. (Reckless discharge of a firearm, if memory serves.) The stalking didn't end until the stalker herself was killed in a vehicular accident.

If anything, I think the enablers of stalking have been a justice system that, until relatively recently, didn't recognize and take seriously the danger posed by stalkers. For that matter, in many places the criminal justice system still doesn't have effective tools to deal with stalking, online or otherwise.

-- Tammy
People can be tracked down---am I correct here?

Not entirely. For over two years I was harassed online by a failed, bitter writer who became obsessed with me, and while I and the owner of the site where the stalker and my paths originally crossed knew several of the ISP addresses this guy was using, we never were able to pin down exactly who he was - and by 'we' I mean earthlink's complaint dept, yahoo, and several other posters he harassed who involved law enforcement agencies in their respective states. Even if his activity could have been traced to a particular computer, that still wouldn't have proved who was using the computer. This is part of what makes cyber-stalking particularly insidious. And if the stalker is clever and posts using a proxy server, it's next to impossible to track him down.

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