Man Goes to Jail for Being an Internet Troll

[bjj hero]

Which is all fine and dandy . . . as long as you never find yourself with a pressing need to make the sorts of speech which you'll have no legal right to make. You never miss your water 'til the well runs dry.

Thats what the appeals court, the high court and the European courts are for. Laws and costitution are only as good as the people enforcing them.

Look at the use of water boarding, I know poeple argue its not toture but do you know what it was known as before the CIA made it cool again? Spanish water torture [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding]. It did not stop the Abu Ghraib toture or people held in inhuman conditions without trial at Gitmo. OK, these were not citizens, a grey area if you will. How about the internment of Americans of Japanese decent during WWII? There are also the examples I gave of America cracking down on free speech and protest. No country on earth with a working government practices total freedom of speech.

If you feel your own government is being oppressive, take action, try and change the system. I'm currently happy enough with the UK system, although I'm sure that the BNP [http://www.bnp.org.uk/] disagree with me.

 

[Legendeer]

Heres a thought for you...

I have right to freedom of expression and speech.
Yet when I go to the street and yell insults to about someone specific. I can get sued, and/or fined depending on the law.
But if I got to the street and discuss, with others, about him with out doing direct offensive remarks about the person, I can not be sued. (Again depending on the law, but not in Finland at least)

That is being sued for slander, which is your right to sue someone for saying something bad about you. This guy wasn't sued for slander, he was tried in a government court, and not a civil one.

Please actually learn about the British legal system before talking about it, it makes you sound like an idiot. The legal system has three areas: parliament, government, judiciary. The judiciary take care of ALL court cases, which are either civil or criminal. There is no government/non-government court.

 

[bob1052]

Hardly a troll, got what he deserves for harassing these people's families.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

In the words of Nelson Muntz: "HA HA!"

Seriously, why don't we have a law against trolls here in the US?

 

[Icefoxy]

Harassment is a crime. Why do the rules change because it's the grand old Internets?

You can be sued in the United States for damages due to emotional damage. Mind you, you won't be thrown in jail for it though. The bereaved family would have to pay for a lawyer for it, and that's quite an unfortunate thing to have to do in the middle of the kind of pain in question. By all means, let's let the government step in, at least with a fine, and perhaps some jail time. We need to send a strong message to our citizens - trolling here and there, fine, but when you take it to this kind of extreme - no, this kind of behavior isn't acceptable. Period. And you should and will be punished for it.

This sort of behavior, which is becoming more and more common, -should not be tolerated in society.- Period. How do YOU propose we reduce it? Sit by while our societal moral compasses continue to degrade because of the overly permissive attitudes of the Internet?

Really though, it all boils down to this: Harassment is a crime. Why shouldn't this be? I'll also remind you that he's hardly cooling his heels in jail for years on end. Get a grip.

 

[duchaked]

"Any society that puts people in prison for being a dick is a society that's in deep trouble indeed."

on second thought I might say hm okay I understand
but in this story's case, well...isn't that just flat out verbal harassment?

 

[JDKJ]

Which is all fine and dandy . . . as long as you never find yourself with a pressing need to make the sorts of speech which you'll have no legal right to make. You never miss your water 'til the well runs dry.

Thats what the appeals court, the high court and the European courts are for. Laws and costitution are only as good as the people enforcing them.

Look at the use of water boarding, I know poeple argue its not toture but do you know what it was known as before the CIA made it cool again? Spanish water torture [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding]. It did not stop the Abu Ghraib toture or people held in inhuman conditions without trial at Gitmo. OK, these were not citizens, a grey area if you will. How about the internment of Americans of Japanese decent during WWII? There are also the examples I gave of America cracking down on free speech and protest. No country on earth with a working government practices total freedom of speech.

If you feel your own government is being oppressive, take action, try and change the system. I'm currently happy enough with the UK system, although I'm sure that the BNP [http://www.bnp.org.uk/] disagree with me.

Not that I've missed your point, but no freedom granted by the Bill of Rights is absolute or total. Not a one of them. Freedoms taken to their full and unbridled extent are anathema to government. It's anarchy.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

This seems like a breach of free speech (I know that it didn't happen in the US, but still)...
He does seem like a massive tool but that is what free speech is about. This could be concerning to people on the internet in the UK.

Actually, no that's not what free speech is about. Free speech is about being able to express your thoughts and ideas about the government and in artistic media without worrying about the government bringing down the hammer on you. Free speech is not about letting dicks say anything they want to grieving families because they find it to be fun.

OT: A little strict of a sentence, but he deserved it.

actually you are wrong(sc) free speech is just that FREE SPEECH! the ability to say whatever the fuck you want whenever the fuck you want you fucking sheep. this troll did go to fucking far yes. but prison cannot hold him for just talking(not in the US at least). the UK is a stupid monarchy with stupid laws that assist crime(see anti gun laws). nuff said you failure

I hope you enjoy your probation/suspension.

 

[Bill_Stanbrook]

I don't like trolls. They're attention-seeking jerks who will say anything to get a rise out of people. When they get demolished in a forum thread, or banned, or even punched in the mouth, I don't mind at all. But I'm having a hard time believing that someone is going to jail for it. Any society that puts people in prison for being a dick is a society that's in deep trouble indeed.

Sorry, but I don't agree. This guy didn't trip over his own feet and accidentally commit all the acts described. Nor was it just a momentary lapse of judgment. He made a conscious choice to commit those acts, and cause grieving people more grief.

His behavior in sending the messages to his neighbors also indicates to me that he's a disturbed and disturbing individual, and that there is probably a deeper story going on there.

Personally I think that a society that allows this sort of behavior is far less healthy than a society that imposes accountability on people who choose to cause others unnecessary grief.

 

[Signa]

How is admitting to being a pedophile necrophiliac "threatening" since it's obviously untrue? Sounds more like self-deprecating humor than a reason to be scared.

It's like Oprah's "Over 9000 penises" and believing it to be an imminent threat.

 

[SilverZ]

This seems like a breach of free speech (I know that it didn't happen in the US, but still)...
He does seem like a massive tool but that is what free speech is about. This could be concerning to people on the internet in the UK.

Actually, no that's not what free speech is about. Free speech is about being able to express your thoughts and ideas about the government and in artistic media without worrying about the government bringing down the hammer on you. Free speech is not about letting dicks say anything they want to grieving families because they find it to be fun.

OT: A little strict of a sentence, but he deserved it.

actually you are wrong(sc) free speech is just that FREE SPEECH! the ability to say whatever the fuck you want whenever the fuck you want you fucking sheep. this troll did go to fucking far yes. but prison cannot hold him for just talking(not in the US at least). the UK is a stupid monarchy with stupid laws that assist crime(see anti gun laws). nuff said you failure

I hope you enjoy your probation/suspension.

for what speaking my mind on a open forum whilst being on topic and dealing with the matter at hand? nah not likely i was on topic so who gives a fuck. OT: Successful troll is successful.

 

[bjj hero]

Not that I've missed your point, but no freedom granted by the Bill of Rights is absolute or total. Not a one of them. Freedoms taken to their full and unbridled extent are anathema to government. It's anarchy.

Common ground on the internet? Wow. Thats what I've been getting at. The American beliefs and values are not better or worse, just different.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

This seems like a breach of free speech (I know that it didn't happen in the US, but still)...
He does seem like a massive tool but that is what free speech is about. This could be concerning to people on the internet in the UK.

Actually, no that's not what free speech is about. Free speech is about being able to express your thoughts and ideas about the government and in artistic media without worrying about the government bringing down the hammer on you. Free speech is not about letting dicks say anything they want to grieving families because they find it to be fun.

OT: A little strict of a sentence, but he deserved it.

actually you are wrong(sc) free speech is just that FREE SPEECH! the ability to say whatever the fuck you want whenever the fuck you want you fucking sheep. this troll did go to fucking far yes. but prison cannot hold him for just talking(not in the US at least). the UK is a stupid monarchy with stupid laws that assist crime(see anti gun laws). nuff said you failure

I hope you enjoy your probation/suspension.

for what speaking my mind on a open forum whilst being on topic and dealing with the matter at hand? nah not likely i was on topic so who gives a fuck. OT: Successful troll is successful.

You flamed someone on an American website, some may say that you have freedom of speech behind you. The rules, however, prohibit that type of post. Ironic huh?

 

[Kurokami]

Man Goes to Jail for Being an Internet Troll

Yay! It finally happened.

 

[dagens24]

Even if he did have sex with the kid's corpse, it's not like he was hurting anyone...

Sorry, that was me being offensive because I can. The moral of the story is that this is the internet, if you don't like the comment, stop reading. The price of freedom of speach is you have to put up with offensive assholes; it sucks but it's so worth it.

 

[SilverZ]

This seems like a breach of free speech (I know that it didn't happen in the US, but still)...
He does seem like a massive tool but that is what free speech is about. This could be concerning to people on the internet in the UK.

Actually, no that's not what free speech is about. Free speech is about being able to express your thoughts and ideas about the government and in artistic media without worrying about the government bringing down the hammer on you. Free speech is not about letting dicks say anything they want to grieving families because they find it to be fun.

OT: A little strict of a sentence, but he deserved it.

actually you are wrong(sc) free speech is just that FREE SPEECH! the ability to say whatever the fuck you want whenever the fuck you want you fucking sheep. this troll did go to fucking far yes. but prison cannot hold him for just talking(not in the US at least). the UK is a stupid monarchy with stupid laws that assist crime(see anti gun laws). nuff said you failure

I hope you enjoy your probation/suspension.

for what speaking my mind on a open forum whilst being on topic and dealing with the matter at hand? nah not likely i was on topic so who gives a fuck. OT: Successful troll is successful.

You flamed someone on an American website, some may say that you have freedom of speech behind you. The rules, however, prohibit that type of post. Ironic huh?

yes yes it is but i did not flame him. if i had flamed him there would have been far more personal attacks and it would have not been on topic at all. speaking of which your not on topic. OT: successful troll is successful.

 

[dagens24]

Also, freedom of speach isn't really subjective.