Same here. Why are people so sue happy? They should make laws against these frivoulous lawsuits.:mad: 
:smack:
That reminds me. My brother could sue me for emotional damages at some of the stuff I did to him. I hurt him, humiliated him, etc. Of course, I wouldn’t intentionally do that to him now.
See, I’m one of these odd exhibitionist-type people who would LOVE to be that kid. I’d love to have people photoshopping me in forums, making up websites devoted to me…basically becoming an internet legend, right up there with AYB, “I told you I was hardcore” and now, the Star Wars Kid.
Lousy ungrateful kid.
Tell me, kputt, if you read of a 15 year old student who was physically assaulted so badly that he had to spend the rest of the school term in the hospital, would you just laugh and say that the matter was trivial? why should causing someone to have a mental breakdown be considered trivial?
Assuming your taunting of your brother triggered a mental breakdown that sent him to hospital for a period of weeks, yes, he might have grounds to sue you. If not, no.
I was skimming the threads, and my mind merged this thread with the one under it to read “Lightsaber kid is now a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force!” Just thought I’d share.
Just think, if he’d taken this another way, he’d probably be center square on Hollywood Squares by now or guest judging some kind of reality talent show.
I suppose I should be shocked at how many of my fellow Dopers seem to ignore the fact that the video in question was stolen but considering how many Dopers seem to somehow feel that they are entitled to all the free music they want, I’m not shocked.
Just saddened and disgusted.
And WierdDave, exactly what good can possibly come out of this?
Northern Piper, I believe it was more because of mental absue then physical.
<slight hijack>
I got the honor of listening to my 7 yr old cry himself to sleep last night. He kept saying he was a loser and no one liked him and he didnt want to show his face in school ever again.
Mostly he was just way over tired and overstimulated, but under it all is a fragile child ego that needs loving.
Those of you who think this lawsuit is funny, trivial and frivolous can go to hell. And I hope you get totally humilaited at some point in your lives as well.
<end hijack>
There are laws against what those boys did to him in stealing the tape and then broadcasting it to the world.
This is far from frivolous.
:wally
Well said, Mockingbird.
Unfortunately, I think that the majority of people who laughed their asses off at this kids expense think nothing of theft. Just look at Napster/Gnutilla/Kazzaa etc.
I had never seen any of this before today…
I hate to admit it, but I was rolling on the god damn floor. I feel guilty for it, but I couldn’t help it.
I don’t know what I as a parent would do if my son were in the same situation this kid is in. I probablly wouldn’t be laughing…
Damn I feel guilty, but I have to watch again. The fuckin remix video owns me right now.
I really hope the kid turns out ok.
Because I don’t need the government’s permission to be angry that my son has been hurt. Whether its emotional or physical it adds up to the same thing: this kid’s sense of security and safety in his community has been forcefully taken from him. Had it been my child you would probably have had to lock me up I would have been so furious.
This is why we have judges. Let the judge listen to both sides. Weigh the information, talk to the kids involved. Let him decide if it it is frivolous… not a bunch of uninformed, disinterested persons half a continent away from the situation.
Simple. Sue for millions and pay high-class prostitutes by the night.
Yes, that’s right. I was using the hypothetical of a physical assault to see if kputt would think that would be trivial also. Bottom line is that the kid ended up in hospital for a lengthy time, under a doctor’s care, because of the actions of the other four boys.* The fact that the medical treatment was necessary because of the mental strain doesn’t make it trivial, which I read kputt as saying.
*Subject to their defence, of course, which we’ve not yet heard about.
Kputt, I suspect that if YOUR child were the one quietly going nuts because the entire planet was laughing at him, you would not regard it as a trivial thing, nor would you consider the possibility of a lawsuit to be “frivolous.”
Bignik, you are absolutely right. That never occurred to me, for reasons you can read about here.
Seriously, though, when someone begins talking about “outlawing frivolous lawsuits,” I find that creepy. Who decides what’s frivolous, and what ain’t? And do I get to elect him?
I do not believe that the children who put the Star Wars Kid videotape on the internet did so with the intention of permanently turbofucking the kid’s life, unhinging his mind, or driving him to suicide.
…but what if that ends up being the result? What, you don’t think someone ought to be held responsible for actions that resulted in putting another human being through hell? For robbing a kid of his friggin’ teenerhood?
There’s an obvious breach of copyright here, which is reason for a lawsuit. But as to the humiliation, is the kid going to sue everyone who laughed at him?
Because it’s not the people who posted it online who are causing him to be humiliated: the people who are really to blame are all his classmates and everyone else in the world who is mocking him. What they are doing, mocking a horribly insecure boy, is cruel and wrong. I don’t think they’re any less culpable than those who distributed the tape, and it’s the fact that so many people are doing it that makes it so horrible for the kid. But how are you supposed to sue every one of them? Far easier to scapegoat the original kids, who may never have even mocked him, but to do nothing about the mob mentality at the school.
Wang-ka and company check out this URL, if I do it right,kpuut and children were kputt rips us all a new one for making jokes about children. Seems a tad hypocritical in light of his comments in this thread.
I laughed at the video too, mostly because I can SO see myself doing that at that age. I just didn’t have access to a video camera back then.
I think there are two types of people, the ones that were like him (even closet dorks), and people who are more concerned with what everyone else thinks.
That sux that this has had such a bad effect on the kid. I hope he can turn it around and accept himself. I don’t see much difference between this and the Fat Boy Slim video for ‘Praise you’.
I laughed at the video when I first saw it. I forwarded the link around to friends. They laughed as well.
Then, I thanked my lucky stars that nothing like that ever happened to me when I was in school. I would have offed myself.
In middle school, we had a day where “secret admirers” could have “love” messages delivered to others lockers. I got one, in girls handwriting, that said some mushy stuff. No signature. I’d never kissed a girl and was extremely excited. I showed all my friends and word got around. After a day or two, it was revealed that it was a hoax. I was devestated.
…and that was one class in one school. Not a whole planet.
Methinks that many posters forget their teen years.
Good luck to this kid.
The article linked in the OP makes it sound like the tape was taken out of the boy’s home. Turns out he left it behind at school. Every overweight teenage geek should know not to leave potentially embarrassing fodder where it could be used against them.