# BBQ Pit illegal now? It's now illegal to "annoy" over the internet anonymously **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 9, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205 "2006-01-09T20:06:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/21 "2006-01-09T22:17:14Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > So, basically, Congress just moved the Internet to MPSIMS? Efficient. will we still be able to mangle poster names? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/22 "2006-01-09T22:18:03Z")
> [@Faruiza](#): > > Frank?! Who the fuck is Frank?! > > I’m annoyed! > > 😃 Last year’s model, it would appear! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/23 "2006-01-09T22:18:47Z")
So, since I’m not anonymous, I can continue to annoy and abuse people as much as I like? See, where others are seeing a problem, I see an opportunity … Frustrated Pit dwellers! For only a small, reasonable, fee, I will undertake to hurl invective at the targets of your choice, on your behalf! _Sample rates (sliding scale according to the severity of the insult)_ Weenie … $1 Big poopyhead … $5 Twatgoblin … $10 Goatfelching asswad … $25 Jackbooted Nazi Communist thug _(mods only)_ … $50 Republican … $1,000 Note to Mods: it’s a _joke_, already! ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/24 "2006-01-09T22:19:29Z")
> [@wring](#): > > will we still be able to mangle poster names? Nope. It’s MPSIMS, after all. Other prohibited behaviors include telling non-governmentally approved jokes and any use of the word “assface”. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/25 "2006-01-09T22:27:31Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Nope. It’s MPSIMS, after all. Other prohibited behaviors include telling non-governmentally approved jokes and any use of the word “assface”. Fuck! I mean “gol-dern it anyhow”. this’ll take some getting used to. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/26 "2006-01-09T22:28:00Z")
It’s probably cliché, but I’m always reminded of the old Lenny Bruce line: “If you can’t say ‘fuck’, you can’t say ‘Fuck the government!’.” Now, will it magically become possible to ‘annoy’ the corporate person known as the US Government for the purposes of the enforcement of this bill? ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/27 "2006-01-10T00:02:59Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > So, basically, Congress just moved the Internet to MPSIMS? Efficient. Sig line? Please? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/28 "2006-01-10T00:43:21Z")
> [@Steve Wright](#): > > So, since I’m not anonymous, I can continue to annoy and abuse people as much as I like? > > See, where others are seeing a problem, I see an opportunity … Frustrated Pit dwellers! For only a small, reasonable, fee, I will undertake to hurl invective at the targets of your choice, on your behalf! > > _Sample rates (sliding scale according to the severity of the insult)_ > > Weenie … $1 > Big poopyhead … $5 > Twatgoblin … $10 > Goatfelching asswad … $25 > Jackbooted Nazi Communist thug _(mods only)_ … $50 > Republican … $1,000 > Note to Mods: it’s a _joke_, already! How much for Knucklefucker? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/29 "2006-01-10T01:01:56Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > Sig line? Please? Of course. One never has to ask to put my words of wisdom in their sig. Shit, if this was my board it would be mandatory. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/30 "2006-01-10T01:17:09Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Of course. One never has to ask to put my words of wisdom in their sig. Shit, if this was my board it would be mandatory. Your wish is my command. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/31 "2006-01-10T01:20:15Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Your wish is my command. What’s that you got on your nose, there? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/32 "2006-01-10T01:43:18Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > What’s that you got on your nose, there? 😉 Jackboot polish, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/33 "2006-01-10T06:12:10Z")
Actually, I think the law IS intended to prevent certain kinds of abuse on message boards. For example, let’s say you ask a female co-worker out and she refuses you. You get all freaked out about it, and seek revenge. A friend of a friend informs you that she goes by the SDMB username “GalPal”, and maybe gives you a few choice personal details about her. So you log on to the SDMB, and start following her from thread to thread, leaving messages like, “Why don’t you tell them about your abortion, Galpal? Why don’t you tell them that you got fired from your last job?” Galpal throws a fit, calls the cops, and they look up the law. Hmmn… If this person knows you, this is stalking behaviour. We’ll subpoena the _Reader_’s records, and find out… Oh, what do you know! It’s that co-worker you rejected three months ago. Book 'em, Danno. Isn’t that what this law is actually trying to do? After all, how else can you harass someone on the internet, if it’s not in a place where you can post public comments? I suppose you could set up an anonymous blog as well, but it seems to me that it’s exactly this type of behaviour that this law is addressing. And that there’s been at least a couple of situations on the SDMB over the years that might have fallen under this law. Not that I agree with it, mind you. I find it rather apalling, especially as it is worded. And I agree that it’ll never stand constitutional muster. As an aside, there are too many laws passed like this - laws that are passed to curry favor with voters, with everyone in Washington knowing it’s a meaningless law because it’s clearly unconstitutional. Meaningless, that is, except for the people who get caught up in it the first time and have to initiate the constitutional challenge. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/34 "2006-01-11T00:30:46Z")
I don’t think anyone has a problem with a law against abuse/harrasment, **Sam Stone**. It’s that little word “annoy” that gets people. You can hardly turn around on the Internet without annoying someone these days, sometimes even unintentionally. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205/35 "2006-01-11T03:53:20Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Question-could we argue that the Pit’s intent is to _insult_, rather than “harass” or “annoy”? > 😉 Insulting me annoys me. Enjoy your time in the crowbar hotel, felon! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbq-pit-illegal-now-its-now-illegal-to-annoy-over-the-internet-anonymously/339205.md?page=1)