Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Neubob on December 03, 2007, 03:11:05 PM
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No laws were broken, according to the Prosecutor.
MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22082080/)
Next stop will be civil court. 1 shallow-pocketed defendant, and very likely a deep pocketed one. I'm waiting with baited breath to see what sort of torts they'll throw against the wall for Myspace. Chances are we'll see a combination of both very straight forward as well as creative litigation tactics.
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In my opinion, that is the wrong ruling. That person should be in jail.
Regards,
Subway
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I agree that it's unfair, but the law is the law. If it's not on the books, they can't apply it in court--and I'm sure they tried. A tough case for the prosecution, no doubt.
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i certainly hope no one on here becomes so upset they kill themselves.
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Your speaking of jailing the parents or someone else ?
I've not read a lot about this case but we all know internet forums are not good for weak people.
This place (the O'club) is a living demonstration this assertion.
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Look for new cyber bullying laws to be produced shortly.
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Yeah, sadly, it's *******s like this that tend to give reason for new idiotic laws to be passed. Whenever somebody demonstrates their ability to corrupt a resource, new laws are written, the government swells, and we all lose.
I think that civil court will do a good job on both the parents and myspace. Hopefully, the economic hit that myspace takes is big enough to make their own regulations more stern.
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I can understand how this would not fall under existing harassment laws.
I think the first big public "cyber harassment" case is going to be interesting. I don't see how anything posted online would not fall under the right of free speech.
This particular case is different because it involved an adult and a minor and there is conspiracy involved. But the parents admit that their daughter sent harassing emails back in response. The daughter enabled the interaction by accepting the friend invite of the harasser.
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Originally posted by Neubob
Hopefully, the economic hit that myspace takes is big enough to make their own regulations more stern.
And just how is myspace at fault here? It is impossible for myspace to police every single conversation that occurs on their site. Both parties were willing participants and either could have left the forum at any time.
Some not so nice things have been said about Voss on this forum. Should HTC be liable if Voss used a sniper rifle on himself?
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Originally posted by ChickenHawk
And just how is myspace at fault here? It is impossible for myspace to police every single conversation that occurs on their site. Both parties were willing participants and either could have left the forum at any time.
Some not so nice things have been said about Voss on this forum. Should HTC be liable if Voss used a sniper rifle on himself?
Myspace is probably not at fault, but I am just envisioning how the tort lawyers will spin it. Having only the most superficial experience with tort law, I can imagine a couple theories that the plaintiff's attorneys will use...
It's not about right and wrong, in civil court, it's about what you can show. Given the money that will be at stake, and the lawyers' cut, I wouldn't be surprised if they show that Myspace was the second gunman on the grassy knoll, as well as responsible for the heat-tile failure on the Columbia.
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Originally posted by Neubob
Given the money that will be at stake, and the lawyers' cut, I wouldn't be surprised if they show that Myspace was the second gunman on the grassy knoll, as well as responsible for the heat-tile failure on the Columbia.
On that we can agree. They will give it their best shot, but it's a long shot and they won't have a leg to stand on.
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Now isn't this a classic free speech dilemma?
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This is suddenly reminding me of the 80's when they were trying to blame a kid's death on Rock Metal music.
Granted, that adult who harrassed that kid prob. SHOULD be sued, for whatever that is worth, but I hardly think they are at fault for thid girls suicide.
The blame for THAT rests firmly on the parents shoulders. Their kid obviously needed help, and they didn't provide it. (in all fairness i've payed little to no attention to this, and maybe the kid's parents had 'em in therapy and did try to get her the help she needed.) You can't "cyber bully" someone into suicide. Something has to already be "broke" in that person.
All in all a sad story.
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Originally posted by Viking
Now isn't this a classic free speech dilemma?
No, it's not.
Free speech protects one from criminal prosecution. Civil penalties can still be applied. Somebody can badmouth you in public and not go to jail, but if you prove that that badmouthing has cost you something, they'd better be ready to pay up.
If myspace is named in this suit, I'll bet that that's the last you hear of it. They'll settle for a fraction of the damages, make some changes in their protocol and call it a day.
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Neubob, if I tell you to go kill yourself (or go to Hell or something similar), am I then responsible if you actually kill yourself?
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Originally posted by Viking
Neubob, if I tell you to go kill yourself (or go to Hell or something similar), am I then responsible if you actually kill yourself?
legaly - no
in your own mind - ?
hmm
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Originally posted by B@tfinkV
legaly - no
in your own mind - ?
hmm
Every generation is weaker then previous for some reason.Kids die in the car these days,we afraid to give 'em anything sharp.School buss pulls over every 100 yards(no wonder kids are fat).God forbid child sees slaughtering of cow, kids will be traumatized forever.
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Originally posted by Viking
Neubob, if I tell you to go kill yourself (or go to Hell or something similar), am I then responsible if you actually kill yourself?
I don't think you would be, no. But it's not what I think that matters. It's not what's true or right or reasonable that matters. All that matters is what can be proven. Courts are often looked to to right a wrong, to make an injured party whole again. They try, but more often than not I think they just do a token job. In this case, hitting every possible defendant with a law suit will likely be that token job.
Personally, I think that all this coddling and passing off of responsibility is counter-productive. Blaming myspace, or even the people that humiliated this girl is missing the point entirely. Blaming the deceased girl's parents may be closer to the point, because it's likely that their upbringing contributed more to her being a mess than anybody else... However, in reality, there is no single person, group or act to blame for this. She was either born or made tragically defective. The fact that somebody set her off was inevitable. Tragic, yes, seemingly appalling, given how it happened, yes, but she was not right inside--as isn't anybody who would kill themselves or anybody else after being made fun of... I was made fun of too, just as most of us have. I've been mad, enraged, depressed and alienated, just as most of us have. I refuse to believe that she had it so much worse than the average person.
I don't think that every generation is weaker. I think that every generation is more and more sheltered by their parents. It has a lot to do with paranoia, with the sensationalization of violence in the media... It has to do with a lot. Physiologically and psychologically we are born very similar to any other group at any other period. It's what happens immediately after that corrupts people.