As we think about the actions of online communities, it is always good to keep a few things in mind. First, lists are run by institutions and they can be held responsible for the actions of list members (harassment and such). So while we can hold up the ideal of free speech, list owners are the ones often taking the legal risks and should be allowed latitude to act to protect the list and themselves. Second, I often find it strange that we hold up free speech but we are all held to codes of conduct (sometimes written and sometimes unspoken) when teaching and speaking in public-we don't harass or insult our students or audience members but act in ways to develop a community. Three, "troll" is a well established term like "flame" in online communities and has a long history. Perhaps to say Brown is a troll is somewhat improper, but to say he exhibits the traditional qualities of a troll would be dead on. Four, while free speech is important, we all know - and often groan - that we work under many limits when doing experiments on human subjects. Brown's announced enterprise to experiment on the list violates the very base of academic freedom--we do have a right to not to be subjects of research. As Stanley Fish says (something like), there is no such thing as free speech and it is a damn good thing. So it goes. An interesting and important topic for our work. Dean Rehberger Associate Director of Matrix Associate Professor Michigan State University 310 Auditorium East Lansing, MI 48824-1120 rehberger@mail.matrix.msu.edu matrix.msu.edu/rehberger wk: (517) 355-9300 fax: (517) 355-8363 hm: (517) 347-7372