Subitted for you approval:
Campbell’s lawyer claims ‘Internet Intoxication’
What do you think? Legitimate defense, or the ‘Blame Game: part deux’
Peace.
† Jon †
Phillipians 4:13
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I think there is such a thing as “Internet Intoxication,” and we have seen it here, with various death threats, posters with multiple identities, and the like. I suggest it stems from the freedom that you apprently have with being anonymous on-line.
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It is not a defense for, or mitigation of, death threats or extortion of any kind.
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I strongly believe that it is appropriate to treat this as real life. A threat made on this board, or in a chat room, is as serious a crime as one made over the phone or by postal mail.
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I look forward to the day when digital signatures will be widespread enough to force people to be accountable for what they say and do online, and unable (or less able) to hide behind false faces.
- Rick
It sounds and smells like a load of donkey droppings to me. Of course, I’m a conservative republican, so it follows naturally that I would feel that way.
I don’t think you’ll find too many people here who think this is a legitimate defense. It seems to me, but this is my own unsubstantiated opinion, that the more intelligent or educated a person is, the more likely they are to accept personal responsibility. The unspoken assumption there, of course, is that I think the dopers are more intelligent and educated than the average person.
Come on, UncleBeer, don’t tell us you haven’t been tempted to post to the SDMB under multiple names!
I would say that legally the defense is shaky. I wouldn’t say “not guilty”, but possibly an extenuating circumstance.
hicc’up
so you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts. what’s so amazing about really deep thoughts? Tori Amos
Bricker: Aw, come on, man this is just a game! Nobody’s real here! It’s all part of the “fun”! You can laugh and giggle and make MEAN VICIOUS threats and REALLY have a gay ol’ time!
I agree with you 1000%. People treat the internet as if it weren’t real life. It is though. And people know it or they wouldn’t say hurtful things that they do. They know they have been hurt by things that others have said on the net so they lash back KNOWING full well it induces pain!
In fact, I’ll go you one better. The net is more REAL! People act on here with no fear of reprisal for their actions, meaning they can be “themselves”. “Themselves” as in how ugly and nasty and vicious they are on the inside but can’t show it face to face because they are afraid of the consequences of their heinous actions.
I used the net here to hide because I was hurting (a weak defense and I know it) still it gave me an avenue to communicate with people when people were scarce in my own life due to loss (they died, etc). So anonymity can have positive features, but most of the time, not. It can be therapeutic for the lonely like the suicide lines I used to counsel people on. I don’t know if they will ever make it so someone can be traced though. Laws against stalking are good ones. I liked your comment!
Uncle Beer: Yes, it comes down to personal responsibility, doesn’t it? THAT is at a premium today, isn’t it? To learn that you have to be reponsible for your actions is a sign of maturity, something that is rare on the net or face to face these days. Good comment!
Ken
It’s ridiculous. How many more excuses can we possibly contrive for our actions? When are we responsible for them? People should know the difference between right and wrong, bottom line. If they don’t(or just won’t) regardless of why, there should be penalties and consequences.
If your head is wax, don’t walk in the sun.
-Benjamin Franklin
I don’t think the solution here is digital sigs and less privacy. People need to understand that any jackass with a computer and phone line can make idiotic and tasteless threats, and to take things with a grain of salt.
Every time people do stupid things over the internet, the internet gets blamed. Did the same thing happen when phones first became prevelant? When death threats were first made over the phone, did people sue the phone company?
You can rest assured that Jiang Zemin and the populace of The People’s Republic of China share your dreams.
Well, what I find actually amusing is people who believe that the Internet IS anonymous. That’s just plain not true. As this very case demonstrates: internet postings CAN be traced. I mean, they caught the little idiot, didn’t they?
If you are posting from your home computer, you can be traced through your ISP. Yes, IP addresses are dynamically assigned by most ISPs, but they are logged. If you send a threatening message, even by, say, an anonymous Hotmail account, your ISP can be contacted by the FBI and can figure out which IP sent out that message and can trace it back to the account by which that individual was logged in. If you are posting from your office computer (not, of course, that anyone here would ever do something like browse SDMB on their coffee breaks!) it’s even easier to trace you.
This tracking ability is certainly not limited to authorized law enforcement personnel, btw. Anyone with sufficient motives and a degree of computer savvy could do the same thing. (Phaedrus, for instance, has claimed this ability. He happens to be wrong, but it’s not impossible.)
I suppose you could get close to an anonymous account if you used a network drop in a cyber cafe or public library. Which is why cafes and libraries usually require either a credit card for your time online, or a photo ID. They keep a log of what machine you’re on, and what times. Again, if the FBI gets a warrent and subpoenas their records, they can figure out who you are.
Personally, I have always assumed, for the 20 years or so that I’ve been online, that EVERYTHING I say is public knowledge for which I can be held both legally and morally liable.
But then, I think the same thing about what I say on the telephone. There is no privacy. And there is absolutely no anonymity, and anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling himself.
[/rant]
Felice
“Everything, once understood, is trivial.” -WES
Felice, I never claimed to have that ability.
Oh. WHEW!
For a minute there, I thought the Topic: line for this thread was “Internet taxation”.
Now THAT’S a scary idea…