Rhode Island Decriminalizes Lying Online

Fanghawk

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Rhode Island Decriminalizes Lying Online

Start posting that you own Google; the Rhode Island police can no longer stop you.

If you've spent a significant amount of time on the internet, you've likely picked up on a few common truths. Specifically, that it's packed to the brim with porn, adorable cats, and people lying about their actual lives. For citizens of Rhode Island, only two of those things were actually legal to display online, thanks to a 1989 law that made it a crime to transmit "false data" over electronic networks like the internet. State lawmakers have only just overturned the law, which threatened liars of all stripes with fines of up to $500 and even a year of jail time.

The basis behind this change has nothing to do with a belief on the part of lawmakers that lying is totally okay now. Instead, the problem was that the law's language was so broad that it treated a person who exaggerates their qualities on eHarmony as though they were actually starting a Nigerian Prince email scam. "This law made virtually the entire population of Rhode Island a criminal," said Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Steven Brown. "When this bill was enacted nobody had any idea what its ramifications were. Telling fibs may be wrong, but it shouldn't be criminal activity."

There have been only a handful of actual prosecutions using this law, so the risk of going to jail over a white lie was fairly low. According to George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley, even so-called despicable free speech may have a right to be defended. "It's part of human nature to embellish and at times lie," Turley said. "It's not a redeeming characteristic maybe but it's a common one. When you give the government the power to criminalize lies, you give it the power to determine what is true and what is false, and which lies to prosecute. That's a dangerous tool."

Those concerned that this decriminalization may open the floodgates to outrageous lies on the internet (well, at least more outrageous than before) likely don't need to worry. Lawmakers are already refining laws that punish those willfully misleading others for harm or profit. The issue is even receiving national attention in light of the Stolen Valor Act, which makes it illegal to lie about receiving top military honors. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the act later this week.

Source: Ars Technica

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Diablo1099_v1legacy

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Dec 12, 2009
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Funny, first time I loaded this page, I got the Site's 404 Page, Anyone else get that? Figure it would be funny to lie about a Artice about lying on the Internet :p
 

viranimus

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Nov 20, 2009
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wait who actually thought for a second that this was a good idea in the first place?

Oh yes, lets make an unenforcable law that could possibly be interpreted how we intended or could technically force us to ban the distribution of all non fiction work on the internet.

People really need to get some savvy about themselves. Next thing you know we will have no being mean on the internet laws to take the place of this.

Ill just sum it up by saying. I REALLY want to continue living on this plaanet.... anymore?
 

Zaik

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Jul 20, 2009
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Finally, I can start up my Prince of Rhode Island 419 email scam.

I've been waiting to do that for, literally, seconds.
 

RvLeshrac

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Oct 2, 2008
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viranimus said:
wait who actually thought for a second that this was a good idea in the first place?

Oh yes, lets make an unenforcable law that could possibly be interpreted how we intended or could technically force us to ban the distribution of all non fiction work on the internet.

People really need to get some savvy about themselves. Next thing you know we will have no being mean on the internet laws to take the place of this.

Ill just sum it up by saying. I REALLY want to continue living on this plaanet.... anymore?
It was a great idea. Freedom of Speech ends the moment that speech is provably false.
 

ZephrC

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Mar 9, 2010
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viranimus said:
wait who actually thought for a second that this was a good idea in the first place?

Oh yes, lets make an unenforcable law that could possibly be interpreted how we intended or could technically force us to ban the distribution of all non fiction work on the internet.

People really need to get some savvy about themselves. Next thing you know we will have no being mean on the internet laws to take the place of this.

Ill just sum it up by saying. I REALLY want to continue living on this plaanet.... anymore?
To be fair, this law was originally passed before there was such a thing as an internet. It's certainly not unreasonable that the people who passed it weren't internet savvy at the time.

Still, it was an incredibly stupid law, and it's kind of sad that it took this long to get rid of it.
 

RvLeshrac

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Oct 2, 2008
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Pyrian said:
RvLeshrac said:
Freedom of Speech ends the moment that speech is provably false.
Laws against "lying" are primarily enforced against the truth.
No. Laws against libel and slander are enforced against the truth.

It is painfully easy to demonstrate that a statement is true, IF it is true.
 

viranimus

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Nov 20, 2009
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ZephrC said:
To be fair, this law was originally passed before there was such a thing as an internet. It's certainly not unreasonable that the people who passed it weren't internet savvy at the time.

Still, it was an incredibly stupid law, and it's kind of sad that it took this long to get rid of it.
Uhm... 1973... 1989.

Sorry I disagree with the law passed before the existence of an internet, I also disagree for not being able to forecast the way the world would move, because this isnt a computer thing, this is a human nature thing and its been postulated all the way back to Plato and the Ring of Gyges.



RvLeshrac said:
It was a great idea. Freedom of Speech ends the moment that speech is provably false.

____________________________
But I do like the idea of the entire state of rhode island being criminal... We can turn it into the American Australia.
 

ZephrC

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viranimus said:
Uhm... 1973... 1989.

Sorry I disagree with the law passed before the existence of an internet, I also disagree for not being able to forecast the way the world would move, because this isnt a computer thing, this is a human nature thing and its been postulated all the way back to Plato and the Ring of Gyges.
Umm... where in the world did you come up with the year 1973? APRANET and the basic concept of computers being networked over large distances dates back to the 60s, the word internet was made up in 1974, and the TCP/IP protocol which basically defines the actual internet was created in 1982, but what I generally think of as the creation of the internet really begins with the implementation of the World Wide Web in 1994. Everything before that has absolutely nothing to do with anything that you think of when you hear the word internet.
 

Shinsei-J

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Apr 28, 2011
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As the king of Rhode Island, I am in great support of this and our new law that makes it legal for me to use my superpowers.
 

RvLeshrac

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Oct 2, 2008
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viranimus said:
ZephrC said:
To be fair, this law was originally passed before there was such a thing as an internet. It's certainly not unreasonable that the people who passed it weren't internet savvy at the time.

Still, it was an incredibly stupid law, and it's kind of sad that it took this long to get rid of it.
Uhm... 1973... 1989.

Sorry I disagree with the law passed before the existence of an internet, I also disagree for not being able to forecast the way the world would move, because this isnt a computer thing, this is a human nature thing and its been postulated all the way back to Plato and the Ring of Gyges.



RvLeshrac said:
It was a great idea. Freedom of Speech ends the moment that speech is provably false.

____________________________
But I do like the idea of the entire state of rhode island being criminal... We can turn it into the American Australia.
Yes, it does. That's *EXACTLY WHY* libel laws are constitutional, as are laws prohibiting false and misleading advertising.
 

MammothBlade

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Oct 12, 2011
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RvLeshrac said:
viranimus said:
wait who actually thought for a second that this was a good idea in the first place?

Oh yes, lets make an unenforcable law that could possibly be interpreted how we intended or could technically force us to ban the distribution of all non fiction work on the internet.

People really need to get some savvy about themselves. Next thing you know we will have no being mean on the internet laws to take the place of this.

Ill just sum it up by saying. I REALLY want to continue living on this plaanet.... anymore?
It was a great idea. Freedom of Speech ends the moment that speech is provably false.

Hahaha, how can you say that? Not all legitimate "free speech" is truth. Freedom of speech necessitates the freedom to lie, the freedom to have an opinion (which can be interpreted as true or false), and the freedom to speak your mind without being prosecuted.

That sort of comment is a scary, totalitarian viewpoint. So think carefully. If you have ever told a lie, you should turn yourself into a police station.
 

viranimus

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Nov 20, 2009
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RvLeshrac said:
viranimus said:
RvLeshrac said:
It was a great idea. Freedom of Speech ends the moment that speech is provably false.
Yes, it does. That's *EXACTLY WHY* libel laws are constitutional, as are laws prohibiting false and misleading advertising.
LOL no. Freedom of speech dies on the internet the moment everything must be provably true. (or when actual information must be applied to every individual)

As for false advertising, well its pretty well known that companies have ample ways to skirt around false advertising laws to say what ever lies they want to say anyway So allowing a law to stay on the books that is an impedement to free speech is not going to actually offer any protection to individuals.

I was hoping you were just saying that out of the theme of the thread being everything in the thread is a lie, but I guess you were being serious.


ZephrC said:
To be fair, this law was originally passed before there was such a thing as an internet. It's certainly not unreasonable that the people who passed it weren't internet savvy at the time.
I do appreciate the wikipedia gleaned history lesson, but I was there. Buried under millions upon million lines of code. Just because it was well beyond the capability of the average computer user, does not mean that it did not exist, and to suggest such is pretty insulting to those who were on the first networks that were the precursors not to the internet, but to the world wide web which is what your talking about. Moot point though. These networks, existed well before the advent of this law, and again, this isnt about data, this is about common sense and human nature.
 

ZephrC

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viranimus said:
ZephrC said:
To be fair, this law was originally passed before there was such a thing as an internet. It's certainly not unreasonable that the people who passed it weren't internet savvy at the time.
I do appreciate the wikipedia gleaned history lesson, but I was there. Buried under millions upon million lines of code. Just because it was well beyond the capability of the average computer user, does not mean that it did not exist, and to suggest such is pretty insulting to those who were on the first networks that were the precursors not to the internet, but to the world wide web which is what your talking about. Moot point though. These networks, existed well before the advent of this law, and again, this isnt about data, this is about common sense and human nature.
Yeah, that's great and all, but I was there too, and I can guarantee that not a single one of those Rhode Island representatives had ever heard the word internet, and while yes there was an "internet" in the 80s, I was on it as well (well, technically I was on it in the early 90s, but that just makes my point more valid, not less) and it was not the internet. And yeah, I did go to Wikipedia to look up the actual years. I don't have them memorized. So?

The point is that the meaning of words in the English language change over time. When someone says internet, what they are referring to is the World Wide Web. It's just that simple.

By the way, you didn't answer my question. Where did you come up with 1973? I've honestly never seen anyone come up with that year as the birth of the internet before. I'm genuinely curious.