The attack on Thaddeus Grage was mean, anonymous and posted for all to see on the Internet.

It accused the Indiana University sophomore of having unprotected sex and of being a "disgusting lying sleezeball." Thirteen people added to the post by detailing stories about Grage, calling him a racist and saying he has sexually transmitted diseases.

When the comments were posted in March, Grage, a criminal justice student from the tiny town of Clayton, worried they would mar his reputation, especially in the eyes of potential employers. He wondered whether his girlfriend would believe the lies.

"It was shocking," Grage said. "I could only hope that (my girlfriend) would trust me enough to know these things were false."

Grage considers himself a victim of JuicyCampus.com, a college gossip Web site where the attack was posted, along with hundreds of other potentially defamatory comments about students at more than 200 campuses where the site has been launched nationwide.

Juicy Campus hit IU and the University of Notre Dame's campuses in January and expanded to nine more Indiana schools in September, bringing mixed reaction among students.

Juicy Campus allows anyone who claims to be at least 18 to enter and anonymously post unfiltered comments. Site users can view discussions pertaining to specific campuses. "What we're really providing is a forum for speech for college students where they can talk in an open and honest way," said Mark Ivester, a 2005 Duke University graduate who launched the site at seven schools in October 2007. "It's an entertainment site; it's meant as a place for lighthearted gossip."

The gossip can turn into vicious attacks. Topics on the site include "sluts" and "ugliest girls in each (sorority) house."

As in Grage's case, the attacks can be targeted at a specific person, sometimes as a form of retaliation.

"If you're narrow-minded, you could break a friendship with this," said Monica Szalajko, a Butler University freshman. "It could destroy people."

Fans of Juicy Campus say the nasty posts shouldn't be taken too personally. It is, after all, a gossip site, not to be considered a credible source of information.

"Everyone realizes it's ridiculous," said Drew Hainz, a Ball State junior who was excited about the site's debut at his school. "As long as you go in with that kind of mind-set, I don't see it as being a problem."

That's also part of Ivester's philosophy. He dismissed complaints that Juicy Campus could hurt students' chances with potential bosses, saying only "a very negligent employer" would consider the comments as a reference tool.

He added that everyone who uses his site has an equal opportunity to comment, so someone who is smeared can respond in defense.

"Most college students know to take what they read on a site like Juicy Campus with a grain of salt."

That's not so simple for Grage. Shortly after he found out about the post, he checked the site every day to see if people had added to the commentary. He considered seeking legal recourse.

But operators of sites such as Juicy Campus are protected from lawsuits under the Communications Decency Act, which holds liable writers of defamatory comments, rather than the venue for posting them.

Mike Hiestand, an attorney and legal consultant to the Student Press Law Center, said students defamed on the site could go after their attackers, but it can be difficult to track who they are.

All comments are made anonymously, and users do not have to register to post on the site. Ivester emphasizes that Juicy Campus does not have its users' names, but the site did help criminal investigators find out users' identities after two students threatened shootings at separate schools.

The anonymity also causes problems for university administrators, who have difficulty finding out which students can be punished for making defamatory remarks.

Some schools have attempted to thwart the site's use in other ways, including requests to the site's operators and student-government-initiated bans, but those have been mostly unsuccessful.

Schools also have voiced their complaints to state authorities. New Jersey's attorney general launched a consumer fraud investigation into Juicy Campus, and Connecticut's attorney general also is investigating the site.

The Indiana attorney general's office has received one consumer complaint against Juicy Campus, but no further action was taken, said Natalie Robinson, a spokeswoman for the office.

By the end of last month, Juicy Campus was launched at 500 campuses, and its owners have ambitions to eventually reach more than 2,500 colleges nationwide.

"I think some people thrive on it because they weren't the victim," Grage said. "Until they become the victim, they don't care."

- By Francesca Jarosz / The Indianapolis Star

Scandal sites

JuicyCampus.com expanded to nine Indiana campuses last month:

• Ball State University.

• Bethel College.

• Butler University.

• Earlham College.

• Hanover College.

• Indiana State University.

• Purdue University.

• Taylor University.

• University of Evansville.

What they're sayin'

A sampling of comments found recently on Indiana's JuicyCampus.com sites.

I.U.:

Subject line: Alpha Gamma Delta

Comment: Totally hot, right?

Ball State:

Subject line: Hottest muscle boys

Comment: Who are the hottest muscle guys at ball state? Kinda just like to facebook them and look at pics!

Butler U.:

Subject line: Nicest ass

Comment: What girl on campus has the nicest ass?

Purdue U.:

Subject line: Evans Scholars

Comment: Gay? Straight? Queer? Or obsessed with beer? What are your thoughts on the caddies of the school?

Bethel College:

Subject line: Feminazi

Comment: (Woman's full name)* is pretty much the biggest feminazi. She has no problem physically attacking every guy who might, perhaps, maybe say something that could be slightly sexist, and will still talk about posting nude pictures of men on her wall. Hypocrite? You bet she is.

*Indy.com chose not to publish the woman's name that appeared on the site.

What do you think?

Indy.com talked to some folks on the street to see how they'd feel if someone anonymously posted vicious gossip about them online. Here's what they had to say:

"I would probably be really upset and I would want to know how to get it off."

- Ashly Felts, 22, cosmetologist

"I've never had anything printed about me (online) ... as far as I know. I don't think I've given anyone reason to do that! On the Internet, there's so much free rein to do anything that if you get rid of it, then another site will pop up."

- Carey Felke, 20, IUPUI student

"I would be freaked out. I would want to know what the source is. Nobody should be writing anything about anyone without their approval."

- Eric Olivarez, 24, pharmacy technician

"You gotta take it for what it's worth. It's an anonymous person posting on a Web site. It's not factual by any means."

- Ryan Bensley, 28, computer support

"If it's anonymous, you don't know who's saying it about you, then it doesn't really matter."

- Stephanie Armour, 23, retail fashion