The Dark Side of "Webtribution"

Imagine this scenario: Every person you know–each family member, friend, co-worker and casual acquaintance–receives an anonymous email from a stranger making terrible accusations about you.

How would you feel?

Renee Holder knows: “Devastated.”

Several years ago, Ms. Holder discovered that dozens of her MySpace friends had received an anonymous email calling her a tramp and a home-wrecker.

For weeks, she tried to counter the allegations, which she says came from her new boyfriend’s former girlfriend. She methodically contacted each person she believed received the email and explained that she hadn’t started dating her boyfriend until months after he had broken up with his ex.

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Along with original content and posts from across the Dow Jones network, this section of AllThingsD includes Must-Reads From Other Web Sites — pieces we’ve read, discussions we’ve followed, stuff we like. Six posts from external sites are included here each weekday, but we only run the headlines. We link to the original sites for the rest. These posts are explicitly labeled, so it’s clear that the content comes from other Web sites, and for clarity’s sake, all outside posts run against a pink background.

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