OT: We Are All Now Criminals Under The Law

[Renegade 13]

So are you saying that if I grabbed someone, stuck them in a tiny dark room for 10 years, and gave them a loaded gun which they then proceeded to shoot themselves with, that wouldn't be classified as murder, even though I would have been manifestly the cause of their death?

I know it's an overblown example, but I think it gets the idea across.

[MrToxin]

Renegade 13 said:
So are you saying that if I grabbed someone, stuck them in a tiny dark room for 10 years, and gave them a loaded gun which they then proceeded to shoot themselves with, that wouldn't be classified as murder, even though I would have been manifestly the cause of their death?

I know it's an overblown example, but I think it gets the idea across.

That's a terrible example. In fact, that's even radically different. I'm not even going to argue with you on either point because comparing messaging somebody on MySpace to locking somebody in a room for ten years with a gun is borderline insane.

[Azselendor]

false imprisonment not equal to bullying people.

[Azselendor]

I wasn't saying you can hold myspace responsible for user-generated content, I was saying it's silly and impractical and frivolous to do so.

And it's very true about loop holes in the law. One lawyer once said "For every crime, there must be an exception"

Of course, tobacco lost their suits because they were deliberately selling an addictive substance that killed their customer base off, and marketed to children among other crimes, and attempted to bury said evidence.

Eating fast food is a choice in favor of laziness and sloth. While they sell a hopelessly disgusting product, they aren't using highly addictive substances, just preying on our own ability to be lazy turds. When people sued them, they used the tobacco lawsuit format and lost. They could've sued on the fact some of their food-products aren't even made from food.

Now as for message filtering, I don't see that as being viable as it can generate numerous false-positives.

Now what myspace can do is implement a system of

1.) tracking and storing all of that data for evidence in case something does happen. This could be used for data-filtering in the future if such technology can be made viable.
2.) create a system where people can seek help from myspace and/or out abusive users and user harassment without fear of reprisals.
3.) work with state and federal authorities to craft legislation to help prosecute people who abuse others on line.

[Atrocities]

Excellent suggestions. I have to say that your are 100% spot on with everything you said in your post. That is one of the reasons I think this forum has survived for so long, it is filled with good people, not low brow name calling jerks like virtually every other forum on the net these days.

[Randallw]

I've never understood it when I read of how fast food supposedly tastes bad. If it supposedly tastes so bad why do so many people eat it?. I quite like the occasional KFC Chicken Burger, and some chips. Real chicken. I can't stand McDonalds beef burgers though. It's just bits stuck together, and overcooked. I always assumed that was my personal taste though. I prefer juicy meat, Mcdonalds would be closed down if they tried to sell meat that still had blood in it (It's called blue). I only have fast food maybe 2 or 3 times a year though.

We have a chain, i suppose it's international, called Hungry Jacks.

"you can't get better than Hungry Jacks"

um actually yes you can. I tried their chicken burger made from real processed chicken bits and won't go back there on principle.

You know actually it seems Fast food is bad after all. Hmm I suppose I never noticed since as I said I very much like a Bacon and cheese chicken burger on rare occasions.

Now what you call Luncheon meat, urg. My philsophy is a reasonable amount of real food, I always have some turkey or Ham in thefridge, rather than processed meat and crisps all the time. I enjoy trying out new recipes, incidentally trying to find out the secret of KFC. I have my own recipe for fried chicken, and am always trying new food. Most common food I find incredibly bland and try new spices and sauces. It's gotten to the stage where I find chilli pepper a bit boring.

[Atrocities]

If you rent one movie this year, make it Super Size Me. Just watch that movie.

[Renegade 13]

Azselendor said:
false imprisonment not equal to bullying people.

Quite true. However, if both lead to the death of the victim, should they not both be said to have been murder?

[AgentZero]

I have to say I do find it a bit odd how people treat the Internet as some sort of special case, because at the end of the day, it's just another medium for communication. If this horrible woman had communicated via text message, would we be calling for nationwide wire tapping? Or if she'd used snail mail, would we be demanding that the Post Office filter all of our mail? What if she'd done it face-to-face (I know that wouldn't work in this particular example, but I'm sure there are other cases where it would)? Would we be demanding that federal agents monitor all of our conversations to make sure we don't say anything mean?

People will say and do nasty thing to each other regardless of the medium of communication used, and when these nasty things pass into the realm of the criminal, suggesting that we hold the medium responsible is to miss the point entirely. The fact that this woman used MySpace as a medium should be completely irrelevant to the case. If you don't think a little note tied to a rose and left outside her door every morning wouldn't have had an equally, if not more devastating effect on this young girl's psyche, then I really don't know what to tell you.

What I'm getting at is that it's the actions committed that should be criminalized, not the medium over which they were committed. I don't know about the US, but here in Canada, instigating someone to commit suicide is a criminal offense. If anything, the focus should be not on MySpace, but on why there are no laws to punish those who push someone to take their own life. But of course, everyone is going to keep talking about MySpace, because Internet bogeymen are more fun to talk about than perplexing holes in a justice system.

[MrToxin]

Eloquently put, Mr. Zero.

One of the biggest problems with MySpace is that it's easy to hate. Kind of a Wal-Mart syndrome there. Similar to IM programs, if you look at it. The news is often full of hysteria about ZOMG!!! PREDATORS ON TEH INTARWEBSSS!!! There's that To Catch a Predator show which acts like the internet is so full of sexual predators that it's about to overflow and engulf the world in a rain of predation.

How often do "special reports" about the unsafe nature of the internet come up? The stereotype of MySpace users is either adults that have nothing to do but prey on younger folk and stupid, attention-starved teenagers. The reality is different, of course, but perception > reality.