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Poison Pen Letter
A poison pen letter is a letter or note containing unpleasant, abusive, or malicious statements or accusations about the recipient or a third party. It is usually sent anonymously. In the term "poison pen" (or poisoned pen), the word poison is used figuratively, rather than literally. Poison pen letters are usually composed and sent to upset the recipient. They differ from blackmail, which is intended to obtain something from the recipient. In the United Kingdom, Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 covers most cases of poison pen letters. See also * Ransom note effect – A message composed of multiple juxtaposing typefaces * James Forster (poison pen letter writer) * Hate mail * Chain letter * Stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The ter ... Reference ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poison Pen
A poison pen letter is a letter or note containing unpleasant, abusive, or malicious statements or accusations about the recipient or a third party. It is usually sent anonymously. In the term "poison pen" (or poisoned pen), the word poison is used figuratively, rather than literally. Poison pen letters are usually composed and sent to upset the recipient. They differ from blackmail, which is intended to obtain something from the recipient. In the United Kingdom, Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 covers most cases of poison pen letters. See also * Ransom note effect – A message composed of multiple juxtaposing typefaces * James Forster (poison pen letter writer) * Hate mail * Chain letter * Stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The ter ... References ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malicious Communications Act 1988
The Malicious Communications Act 1988 (MCA) is a British Act of Parliament that makes it illegal in England and Wales to "send or deliver letters or other articles for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety". It also applies to electronic communications. Scope of application The original purpose of the MCA was to prevent the sending of printed matter, but the scope of the act has been extended to cover electronic communications. The MCA can be used to charge people for comments made via social networking sites that are “racially motivated” or "religiously motivated." Criticisms The MCA has been criticised for its aim as a means to censor free speech, a core civil liberty. In 2012 an individual was falsely arrested under the Act for saying that Olympic diver Tom Daley let his late father down by not winning a medal at the London Olympics. Highlighted cases The MCA was successfully used against Internet troll Sean Duffy who harassed the family of Natasha MacBryde after her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Letters (message)
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabet, either as written or in a particular type font. * Rehearsal letter in an orchestral score Communication * Letter (message), a form of written communication ** Mail * Letters, the collected correspondence of a writer or historically significant person ** Maktubat (other), the Arabic word for collected letters ** Pauline epistles, addressed by St. Paul to various communities or congregations, such as "Letters to the Galatians" or "Letters to the Corinthians", and part of the canonical books of the Bible * The letter as a form of second-person literature; see Epistle ** Epistulae (Pliny) ** Epistolary novel, a long-form fiction composed of letters (epistles) * Open letter, a public letter as distinguished from private correspon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chain Letter
A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients. The "chain" is an exponentially growing pyramid (a tree graph) that cannot be sustained indefinitely. Common methods used in chain letters include emotionally manipulative stories, get-rich-quick pyramid schemes, and the exploitation of superstition to threaten the recipient. Originally, chain letters were letters sent by mail; today, chain letters are often sent electronically via email, social network sites, and text messages. Types There are two main types of chain letter: # Hoaxes: Hoaxes attempt to trick or defraud users. A hoax could be malicious, instructing users to delete a file necessary to the operating system by claiming it is a virus. It could also be a scam that convinces users to spread the letter to other people for a specific reason, or send money or personal information. Phishing attacks could fall into this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hate Mail
Hate mail (as electronic, posted, or otherwise) is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient. Hate mail often contains exceptionally abusive, foul or otherwise hurtful language. The recipient may receive disparaging remarks concerning their ethnicity, sexuality, gender, religion, intelligence, political ideology, sense of ethics, or sense of aesthetics. The text of hate mail often contains profanity, or it may simply contain a negative, disappropriating message. Senders of hate mail normally send anonymous letters or pose as someone else (either a different or fictitious individual) in order to avoid being identified and tracked down, as the nature of some hate mail would inevitably result in criminal charges if the sender was identified. Notable examples of hate mail Hate mail has frequently been issued to footballers and managers by fans of rival football teams, and also by their own fans w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Forster (poison Pen Letter Writer)
James Forster (1933–2017) was an English academic and criminal who, between 1987 and 1999, orchestrated a hate campaign during which he sent 200 poison pen letters to residents of Manfield, district of North Yorkshire. A former Open University lecturer, he was found guilty of three counts of threatening to destroy property, three of sending indecent mail, and one of incitement to commit burglary. He died in 2017. Early life Forster was born in 1933 and was employed by the National Coal Board for 11 years before attending Kings College at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. There he studied for a BSc in applied sciences before taking an MSc and PhD. He then lectured at the University of Nottingham for five years before joining the Open University. He rose through the ranks from staff tutor to senior lecturer between 1971 and 1998, including a spell as acting deputy regional director in 1995. Crimes Between 1987 and 1999, residents of Manfield, district of North Yorkshire, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ransom Note Effect
In typography, the ransom note effect is the result of using an excessive number of juxtaposed typefaces. It takes its name from the appearance of a stereotypical ransom note, with the message formed from words or letters cut randomly from a magazine or newspaper in order to avoid using recognizable handwriting. The term is also used to describe poor typesetting or layout created by an untrained Web developer or desktop publishing user, but the problem is recognized in classical typography, which cites handbills from the 18th and 19th centuries as particular examples. Early versions of Macintosh system software, up through System 7, included a bitmapped font called San Francisco that replicated the ransom note effect. The font was not carried over into later versions of Mac OS. Microsoft similarly had a Ransom typeface commissioned in 1992. The ransom note effect may also occur when a web browser uses different fonts to display parts of a web page in different languages or enc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal advice to the police and other investigative agencies during the course of criminal investigations, to decide whether a suspect should face criminal charges following an investigation, and to conduct prosecutions both in the magistrates' courts and the Crown Court. The Attorney General for England and Wales superintends the CPS's work and answers for it in Parliament, although the Attorney General has no influence over the conduct of prosecutions, except when national security is an issue or for a small number of offences that require the Attorney General's permission to prosecute. History Historically prosecutions were conducted through a patchwork of different systems. For serious crimes tried at the county level, justices of the peace or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 170 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Letter (message)
A letter is a written message conveyed from one person (or group of people) to another through a medium. Something epistolary means that it is a form of letter writing. The term usually excludes written material intended to be read in its original form by large numbers of people, such as newspapers and placards, although even these may include material in the form of an "open letter". The typical form of a letter for many centuries, and the archetypal concept even today, is a sheet (or several sheets) of paper that is sent to a correspondent through a postal system. A letter can be formal or informal, depending on its audience and purpose. Besides being a means of communication and a store of information, letter writing has played a role in the reproduction of writing as an art throughout history. Letters have been sent since antiquity and are mentioned in the ''Iliad''. Historians Herodotus and Thucydides mention and use letters in their writings. History of letter writing Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackmail
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to family members or associates rather than to the general public. These acts can also involve using threats of physical, mental or emotional harm, or of criminal prosecution, against the victim or someone close to the victim. It is normally carried out for personal gain, most commonly of position, money, or property. Blackmail may also be considered a form of extortion. Although the two are generally synonymous, extortion is the taking of personal property by threat of future harm. Blackmail is the use of threat to prevent another from engaging in a lawful occupation and writing libelous letters or letters that provoke a breach of the peace, as well as use of intimidation for purposes of collecting an unpaid debt. In many jurisdictions, bla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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