Just a thought for the amateur radio community…
In general, it’s not cool to accuse people of criminal activity in polite company, at least if you’re not prepared to back that accusation up with police.
But it’s way, way less cool to accuse people of criminal activity over the air on amateur radio. Worse, if you make such an application on the air – especially on HF radio, where it can be heard over a huge geographic area – you might well be setting yourself up to be sued for slander.
Falsely accusing people in a public forum is illegal in most civilized jurisdictions. The details vary from place to place, but in general, if you tell lies about people to damage their reputation, you run a good chance at being on the wrong end of a court judgement. Talking shit about people in public is never, ever a good idea. Certainly talking shit about people on the radio is near the top of the list of “stupid things to do”.
This differs from telling an unpleasant truth about someone. Of course, if you’re telling the truth, you can back that up with facts and evidence.
So if you can’t back up your gossip, it’s probably best to unkey the mic and keep your mouth shut, unless you like being dragged into court. Courts take a fairly dim view of people slandering others.
Amateur radio doesn’t need this kind of behaviour on the air. Most of us have enough douchebaggery in our lives without listening to some rumour-spreading blowhard on HF.
The most important attraction amateur radio has for me is the fact that all the squares are in on this. Short of listening to Lawrence Welk, this is a small town that folks can find comfort knowing that we can live in Wishart Saskatchewan without having to move there. I agree with keeping the crap off the air as there are so many other places in life to spread the douchebaggery.