# Returning troll SUED. (Not here!) Your thoughts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 25, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-troll-sued-not-here-your-thoughts/150755 "2003-01-25T00:21:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-troll-sued-not-here-your-thoughts/150755/1 "2003-01-25T00:21:07Z")
Hopefully this isn’t a redux. [http://www.cleveland.com/tech/plaindealer/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fbusiness%2F104288693631280.xml](http://www.cleveland.com/tech/plaindealer/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fbusiness%2F104288693631280.xml) I’m still trying to form an opinion. Part of me says “HAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHA SUCKER” but the other part’s wondering about the implications of such a rule, like… um… all right then. :wally ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-troll-sued-not-here-your-thoughts/150755/2 "2003-01-25T00:48:42Z")
Interesting. I’d like to see the court’s ruling when it’s all said and done. I can understand the company’s position on harassing behavior, and something that may cost time and money to fix, but does that really fly in the face of freedom of speech? I am **NOT** defending trolls at all, but I’m just curious to see how this works out. . . Tripler Our Mods here do a kickass job with trolls. And socks. And the laundry of trolls’ socks. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-troll-sued-not-here-your-thoughts/150755/3 "2003-01-25T01:30:32Z")
> [@](#): > > does that really fly in the face of freedom of speech? What freedom of speech is at issue? The government is not attempting to regulate what is transmitted over the internet (in this case). We simply have a jerk and a victim going to court to figure out which is which. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-troll-sued-not-here-your-thoughts/150755/4 "2003-01-25T01:37:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tripler \* > \*\*Interesting. > > \ but does that really fly in the face of freedom of speech? \*\* Not at all. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean that you can say anything, anywhere. For instance, a bar I know will not allow their patrons to swear inside the establishment. They are thrown out. And it is the bar’s right to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-troll-sued-not-here-your-thoughts/150755/5 "2003-01-25T02:22:07Z")
I don’t see a freedom of speech issue, **Trip** ; as the article points out, just about every single message board is private property. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-troll-sued-not-here-your-thoughts/150755/6 "2003-01-25T02:45:39Z")
Interesting. I spent a good 10 minutes composing a response, only to realize that yeah, you guys are right. A private message board has a right (through a contractual agreement) to curtail certain bullshit, such as **Khadaji** ’ **s** club does. I see the difference. But I’d still like to see what the court says, just out of curiosity. Tripler I’m sure it will turn out in favor of that particular MB, but hey. . . ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-troll-sued-not-here-your-thoughts/150755/7 "2003-01-25T02:48:08Z")
Just how low on the troll food chain do you have to be to be a sock on a _pest control_ message board? ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-troll-sued-not-here-your-thoughts/150755/8 "2003-01-25T03:20:40Z")
Makes as much sense as trolls anywhere else. Even more sense, actually, since the pest control people might be someone this person wants to make fun of. My question is: if the moderators deleted his posts, how can they prove their case? I can’t imagine they went through the trouble of making a backup of this guy’s offensive posts; until the lawsuit there wouldn’t have been a point to it. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-troll-sued-not-here-your-thoughts/150755/9 "2003-01-25T03:50:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*Just how low on the troll food chain do you have to be to be a sock on a _pest control_ message board? \*\* A cockroach, maybe? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Daniel \* > \*\*My question is: if the moderators deleted his posts, how can they prove their case? I can’t imagine they went through the trouble of making a backup of this guy’s offensive posts; until the lawsuit there wouldn’t have been a point to it. \*\* You are assuming that a deleted post/thread is physically removed from the database. It’s more likely that it is simply given a different status that keeps it from showing up in the normal operation of the software.