Hey, somehow I'm using my real name and surname on this forums. I'd like a change but I'm not willing to pay. Tell me the legal side of this issue please... Hope you understand the core problem. Thanks!
I am not a lawyer so any advice I would give you is worth exactly what you paid for it. I don't think legally you have a leg to stand on since you chose your userid yourself. To get anything removed from DigitalPoint you have to go through the US court system which would require a paying a lawyer to represent you and assuming you prevailed you would then have to pay for a process server to serve the site owner. Such a procedure would inevitably cost much more than the 25 dollars for a name change. For what it is worth. In my eyes someone who uses their real name on DP comes across and more reputable than a person that hides behind an alias. Personally I do not do business with anyone unless I have name, address, and phone number of the party with whom I am doing business.
I also am not a lawyer, but by providing your actual name and a trail of posts, you certainly leave yourself open to employers, customers, and others to learning a lot about you -- both good and bad. I suppose that there could even be exposure to identity theft from phishers who could target you quite well. Really reaching for potential consequences, you might be easier targeted by other members of DP for libel or slander charges if you are particularly nasty in a post. Reaching even further, if you give bad advice that costs someone money, they could have some recourse to suing you. All of these things are much more difficult if you hide behind a nickname.
Smyrl, jrbiz thank you for respodning to this thread. I agree with you that users are more likely to trust someone whos behind his real alias. I tend to post only quality stuff and help people out so thats a plus for me. Scamming is not my 'thing' so thats fine too. But I still think that it's a common courtesy to give name changes for free if the names represent a real person, not their nickname. That's what I'd do if I were an admin here. So in my eyes thats a minus for DP. But who cares about my opinon huh.... Thank you guys for contributing here, cheers!