Bears captain's fury at hoax ad

The Brighton Bears captain is taking legal advice after finding his photograph and personal details in the personal ads of the men-only site.

He condemned the advert as "seriously false" and said he planned to track down the hoaxer.

The advert, which gave intimate personal details, asked visitors to contact Randy by phone and email and leave colourful messages.

The 6ft 2in athlete, who joined the Bears last September, was horrified when he was told about the advert.

Dallas-born Randy, 27, said: "This is really serious and it is seriously false. I did not put this advert on the web. I don't even know the web site.

"I think it's pretty sad someone doesn't have a life and spends their time doing this. I don't yet know what legal action I can take but I will take it across the board."

Bears coach and fellow American Nick Nurse said the advert was not of Randy's doing, adding: "But if someone uses his name on a site, what can we do?

"It's a vicious, sad act by someone acting anonymously. I will look into it but it may just turn out to be one of those things."

Brighton Bears Supporters Club, whose role is to "help promote the good image of basketball as a family spectator sport", said the advert appeared to be a malicious act.

Membership secretary Hugh Tucknott said: "It sounds like someone trying to spread mischief. We thoroughly deplore it."

Randy, who plays in the number nine guard position, signed a three-year deal with the Bears.

He previously played for London Towers, where he led them to victory in the Southern Conference Championship.

He was not the only victim of the hoax.

Brighton resident Pamela Hanney found herself involved because her phone number is similar to Randy's.

She had no idea her number had been posted on the web site and was puzzled to receive a series of mysterious late-night phone calls.

She said: "I got the first call at about 10.45pm when I was in bed. I answered and it was a well-spoken voice who said he was sorry but he obviously had the wrong number.

"About 20 minutes later it rang again, I picked it up but whoever it was put the phone down. It rang about three more times. In the end I got so fed up I turned the bell off.

"It was rather aggravating. I have absolutely no interest in a gay web site but I suppose that is why the callers all hung up when a woman answered."

The offending advert was removed from the site, gaydar.co.uk, within 24 hours of it being posted.

Demos Strouthos, marketing manager for Twickenham-based gaydar, said hoaxes like this were rare but occasionally happened.

He said: "There have been cases where we have got the police involved to sort it out.

"We put on something like 900 new profiles a day. We check 2,000 profiles a day. But we have more than 310,000 members, 65 per cent of those in the UK. Almost 12,000 of those are in Brighton and the South-East.

"We try to police it as best we can and we're getting quicker at finding out when someone has been hoaxed."

He said the site was not governed by a regulatory body and the law around web sites was a "grey area".

He said: "Like all sites, we regulate ourselves but everything is above board. We have agreed guidelines and we work closely with the police when necessary."

He said it was possible they would be able to identify the hoaxer to police: "Each computer has its own ID and we can try to provide those details to the police."

Kemp Town MP Des Turner is another public figure who has been a victim of the web.

He said: "I have a whole web site devoted to me which is extremely malicious. I have chosen to ignore it because I think that's the best thing I can do - treat it with derision.

"But I sympathise with anyone who finds their details all over a web site.

"The legal situation is not satisfactory and, as far as I know, there are no moves to change it.

"The only regulations I know of is the capacity for security services or fraud investigators to intercept business transactions."

Mr Turner said it should be a straightforward issue of extending libel laws to the electronic media.

He added: "Having said that, I can see difficulties. What happens if someone submits that information from France? You could say the European Union should look at it. But then what happens if they do it in Timbuktu?

"We need a working party to look at the situation."

Sussex Police said they would not be taking any action on the gaydar hoax and had advised Randy it was a civil matter.

Hoaxes on web sites are not limited to small operations.

Launched two years ago, gaydar operates across Europe and operates in six countries including Australia, South Africa and the US.

The company was made aware of the hoax by Paul, a Brighton resident who has asked not to be fully identified.

He said: "This advert broke all the rules - it gave a home address and phone number and was encouraging people to come and see him and make phone calls. Those are details you should never give out on the internet.

"People need to be aware if an ad gives home numbers and addresses, the chances are it is someone being malicious. Anything suspect should be reported to the site immediately.

"It's sad but there is little you can do to prevent someone placing a false advert. It is so easy to do, particularly when you can log-on at internet cafes all over the world."

However, action can be taken against web sites if they do not act to remove false material.

Five years ago, Dr Laurence Godfrey won a test case over a defamatory statement made on the internet.

The physics lecturer took Demon Internet to court after discovering a forged message purporting to come from him in a news group.

Dr Godfrey faxed Demon a letter informing them he was not responsible for the posting and warned them it was defamatory.

He asked them to remove it immediately but Demon failed to act and it remained there for about another ten days.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Morland said Demon had been given the opportunity to remove the defamatory posting but had chosen not to do so.

Geoff Davies is an internet "forensic" expert whose job it is to trace hackers and hoaxers.

He said: "Hoaxes like this are common. People seem to get an enormous sense of power by doing it.

"However, there is a very good chance it is possible to trace the hoax back to its original source.

"The type of person who does this isn't generally all that careful."

Mr Davies, managing director of internet security firm I-SEC, said most hoaxers took few precautions to hide their identities.

He said the major problem with internet defamation was that it was instantaneous and global.

He said: "Once out, the genie can't go back into the bottle. It doesn't matter how many lawsuits you bring, the damage is done."

Britain's internet defamation laws amount to "censorship on demand", according to Caspar Bowden, director of the Foundation for Information Policy Research.

He said: "The law here is profoundly unsatisfactory.

"The judge in Godfrey v Demon said that case exposed the outdated Defamation Act as not being relevant to the internet. Nothing much has changed since."