is cyberspace fun anymore

[newgirl]

Has anyone heard about this sad story

Mom: Girl killed herself over online hoax

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21844203/?GT1=10547

Why do people have to cyberharrass,cyberbully and do other cybercrime against people online?If you don't like someone offline or don't like a person's online post leave the person alone online.

[OwlSaint]

That is truly horrible....

[mackat5]

Saw that in the paper today. Wish there was something that could be done to such folks. :x

[Puzzle_chick]

I read about that today. That is the sickest thing ever, what those people did to her. If I was that girl's mother/sister/friend, I'd probably go after and either kill or severely hurt the people that pulled the prank. In fact I'll tell you right now if someone did that to one my friends with that result, I WOULD go after them.

[newgirl]

I have been a victim of cyberbullying/cyberharassment on a messageboard and it's not funny. I just can't believe the laws can't be changed to protect the innocent and I think Myspace and other online sites should be liable for letting cybercrimes happen on their sites

[cijay]

I think Myspace and other online sites should be liable for letting cybercrimes happen on their sites

I think it's ridiculous for the online communities to assume responsiblities. I suppose every bar, newspaper and bus bench where strangers meet should be, too?

It's not that I have no compassion for the victims and bullying is bullying, whether it's print, electronic or interactive and most victims are young and naive but if it's that bad...wouldn't you pull the plug on your computer before it got to that?

[v4point0]

I think Myspace and other online sites should be liable for letting cybercrimes happen on their sites

I think it's ridiculous for the online communities to assume responsiblities. I suppose every bar, newspaper and bus bench where strangers meet should be, too?

It's not that I have no compassion for the victims and bullying is bullying, whether it's print, electronic or interactive and most victims are young and naive but if it's that bad...wouldn't you pull the plug on your computer before it got to that?

I agree with Cijay. Besides, it's not entirely possible for the online communities to find all instances of cyberbullying, anyway. I know they have a link to report it if you find something like that happening, but I'm sure not many "outsiders" stumble onto those pages (also, if they were sending private messages, then even less people would know).

They could run a search on certain derogatory terms, but they would pull up a lot of false hits. Also, if they phrase it a certain way, like being sarcastic, or something, then it would be even harder to find.

[newgirl]

I think Myspace and other online sites should be liable for letting cybercrimes happen on their sites

I think it's ridiculous for the online communities to assume responsiblities. I suppose every bar, newspaper and bus bench where strangers meet should be, too?

It's not that I have no compassion for the victims and bullying is bullying, whether it's print, electronic or interactive and most victims are young and naive but if it's that bad...wouldn't you pull the plug on your computer before it got to that?

But least offline,the laws protect people but online people can get away with almost anything. The only choice survivor of cyberharassment/cyberbullying can do is too stay silent.Well i think it's about time people start suing owner of message board and online communities site because Offline , A woman can sue her job for a co worker harassing her so why can't people sue the owner of an online message board or online communities site for not providing a safe place too post. I can same the same thing to a woman being harass on her job just quit and no more harrassment.

[newgirl]

I think Myspace and other online sites should be liable for letting cybercrimes happen on their sites

I think it's ridiculous for the online communities to assume responsiblities. I suppose every bar, newspaper and bus bench where strangers meet should be, too?

It's not that I have no compassion for the victims and bullying is bullying, whether it's print, electronic or interactive and most victims are young and naive but if it's that bad...wouldn't you pull the plug on your computer before it got to that?

I agree with Cijay. Besides, it's not entirely possible for the online communities to find all instances of cyberbullying, anyway. I know they have a link to report it if you find something like that happening, but I'm sure not many "outsiders" stumble onto those pages (also, if they were sending private messages, then even less people would know).

They could run a search on certain derogatory terms, but they would pull up a lot of false hits. Also, if they phrase it a certain way, like being sarcastic, or something, then it would be even harder to find.

The police don't have a problem finding some people via computer so unless a person is a professional hacker most cyberbullies/cyberharass should be able to be found.

[v4point0]

But least offline,the laws protect people but online people can get away with almost anything. The only choice survivor of cyberharassment/cyberbullying can do is too stay silent. Well i think it's about time people start suing owner of message board and online communities site because Offline , A woman can sue her job for a co worker harassing her so why can't people sue the owner of an online message board or online communities site for not providing a safe place too post. I can same the same thing to a woman being harass on her job just quit and no more harrassment.

I agree, they should definitely have similar online/offline laws because what those parents did to that girl was hurtful and wrong.

However, I personally think a job and an online community are a completely different thing. If you are working somewhere, for the most part, you can't just quit because you have bills to pay, etc. Being in an online community is optional and much easier to leave since there are no reprecussions (the only thing keeping anyone there is, maybe, curiosity).

An online community would be like the equivalent of a club or bar, for instance. If someone is telling you something you don't want to hear you can either complain or leave. I've never heard of police being called in those instances unless there was an actual physical assault.

[cijay]

But least offline,the laws protect people but online people can get away with almost anything. The only choice survivor of cyberharassment/cyberbullying can do is too stay silent.Well i think it's about time people start suing owner of message board and online communities site because Offline , A woman can sue her job for a co worker harassing her so why can't people sue the owner of an online message board or online communities site for not providing a safe place too post. I can same the same thing to a woman being harass on her job just quit and no more harrassment.

In THEORY the law protects people, in practicality, they protect a very small percentage.

The office/workplace is small enough that the company can do something about it. They have records as to who the perpetrator is, they can trace him/her and they can fire the person. (Likewise if it's proven that someone is talking/harrassing someone online, the owner of the site can ban that person, can't they?)

Internet sites are only as unsafe as the people allow them to be. People can be anonymous on the internet and while there are plenty of con men and women in the work force, it's not only harder to do but on a face to face level, many of them chicken out. I mean, if someone is harrassing someone online, if you look behind the scenes, it could be a 14 year old girl posing as a psycho 35 year old man.

And yes, if you're being harrassed at work and the boss isn't doing anything, you have the choice of quitting. It's not a matter of "why should *I* quit my job?" The bottom line is that people have to take care of themselves. Put distance between yourself and the threat at any cost. Mommy ain't there to wipe your bum all the time and sometime we're the dog and sometimes we're the fire hydrant and that's just how life is.

To sue the owner of a website is equivalent to when my mum's friend wanted to sue the newspaper because she tripped on a plastic binding strap that someone threw down on the street. It's not the paper's fault, someone was careless. Find the person who threw the strap down and sue them (which is about how easy it is to find a cyberstalker.)

[agentjones]

Why do people have to cyberharrass,cyberbully and do other cybercrime against people online?

For the same reasons people have to harass, bully, and commit crimes against other people offline. We, as a species, are pretty messed up, and there's only such an extent to which any given one of us is willing to recognize and change that.

[newgirl]

Why do people have to cyberharrass,cyberbully and do other cybercrime against people online?

For the same reasons people have to harass, bully, and commit crimes against other people offline. We, as a species, are pretty messed up, and there's only such an extent to which any given one of us is willing to recognize and change that.

Your post made my day :lol:

[Dargon]

The only choice survivor of cyberharassment/cyberbullying can do is too stay silent.Well i think it's about time people start suing owner of message board and online communities site because Offline , A woman can sue her job for a co worker harassing her so why can't people sue the owner of an online message board or online communities site for not providing a safe place too post.

Because keeping a safe place to post is impossile. Ban my account, I'll make a new one. Ban my email address, I'll make a new one. Ban my IP, I'll spoof a new one. A store owner kicks you out once, and if you come back, calls the cops. A forum admin could kick you out thousands of times, and you could repeatedly come back.

As for tracking people, my understanding of the law is nto great, but if it is correct, you usually need a subpoena to get someones information (usually from an IP address), and unless you have the government in your pocket (a la RIAA), you ain't getting that subpoena. Not to mention, the IP may have been spoofed, or hell, from right here, I have access to two networks (and thus two IP addresses) that aren't mine, and if they managed to get the subpoena, it would trace back to not my router, and they would need to seize the router to check the MAC address list and trace my MAC address back to me. Ain't gonna get that kind of law enforcement for simple harrassment. Not to mention if that came around I'd move to Canada, that level of law enforcement is just rediculous.

Once, several years ago, someone (and I believe I know who) commandeered my AOL account, harrassed people via my email and AIM SN, signed me up for various porn forums and services (from the worst end of the porn spectrum), and even put a death thread on my answering machine using skype from my own AOL account (which, I learned is a misdemeanor, with a very small fine, and the responsibility fell on me to find out and prove who it was), . Who was at fault? Me. My password was weak (letters only, mix of capitol and lower case), easy to brute force. Single level authentication with a weak password.

[Usernamecolonasterisk]

We, as a species, tend not to be very nice to each other.

[Amcan]

Dargon makes a good point.

To my mind suing the owner of a messageboard isn't going to help anyone.

Why? Because there are ways around things. We've had trolls here, some who it took us awhile to figure out they were trolls. Someone who is of the midset to cyber-bully is going to find a way around failsafes.

There are boards out there with memeberships 6 times the size of AVEN and with a much regular pool of regular posters.

Policing AVEN is hard on a larger board the problems are many times that. You can't be everywhere and stop everyone.

Boards are often voluntarily run by human beings.

Some people use their real names and put their whole address into their profile, that's nothing to do with the person who runs the board.

So yes I agree with Datgon and cijay.

It;s a tragic case but honeslty? Suing the people who own a messageboard isn't the answer.

[agentjones]

Why do people have to cyberharrass,cyberbully and do other cybercrime against people online?

For the same reasons people have to harass, bully, and commit crimes against other people offline. We, as a species, are pretty messed up, and there's only such an extent to which any given one of us is willing to recognize and change that.

Your post made my day :lol:

Ummm...you're welcome? I'm not sure if laughter is quite the reaction I was going for, because, y'know, I'm pretty serious about that statement.

[newgirl]

The only choice survivor of cyberharassment/cyberbullying can do is too stay silent.Well i think it's about time people start suing owner of message board and online communities site because Offline , A woman can sue her job for a co worker harassing her so why can't people sue the owner of an online message board or online communities site for not providing a safe place too post.

Because keeping a safe place to post is impossile. Ban my account, I'll make a new one. Ban my email address, I'll make a new one. Ban my IP, I'll spoof a new one. A store owner kicks you out once, and if you come back, calls the cops. A forum admin could kick you out thousands of times, and you could repeatedly come back.

As for tracking people, my understanding of the law is nto great, but if it is correct, you usually need a subpoena to get someones information (usually from an IP address), and unless you have the government in your pocket (a la RIAA), you ain't getting that subpoena. Not to mention, the IP may have been spoofed, or hell, from right here, I have access to two networks (and thus two IP addresses) that aren't mine, and if they managed to get the subpoena, it would trace back to not my router, and they would need to seize the router to check the MAC address list and trace my MAC address back to me. Ain't gonna get that kind of law enforcement for simple harrassment. Not to mention if that came around I'd move to Canada, that level of law enforcement is just rediculous.

Once, several years ago, someone (and I believe I know who) commandeered my AOL account, harrassed people via my email and AIM SN, signed me up for various porn forums and services (from the worst end of the porn spectrum), and even put a death thread on my answering machine using skype from my own AOL account (which, I learned is a misdemeanor, with a very small fine, and the responsibility fell on me to find out and prove who it was), . Who was at fault? Me. My password was weak (letters only, mix of capitol and lower case), easy to brute force. Single level authentication with a weak password.

Your post made me really laugh in a good not bad way :lol: No moving to Canada

[newgirl]

Why do people have to cyberharrass,cyberbully and do other cybercrime against people online?

For the same reasons people have to harass, bully, and commit crimes against other people offline. We, as a species, are pretty messed up, and there's only such an extent to which any given one of us is willing to recognize and change that.

Your post made my day :lol:

Ummm...you're welcome? I'm not sure if laughter is quite the reaction I was going for, because, y'know, I'm pretty serious about that statement.

I know your post was serious but my relationship with people in general isn't that good right now.and your post hit home with me. I need too laugh right now.

[jamie]

I read about that today. That is the sickest thing ever, what those people did to her. If I was that girl's mother/sister/friend, I'd probably go after and either kill or severely hurt the people that pulled the prank. In fact I'll tell you right now if someone did that to one my friends with that result, I WOULD go after them.

same here.