Internet forum admin, posters sued for "Emotional Distr

[General Trelane (Retired)]

I'm gonna fucking sue you. And SirNitram. And Darth Wong. And everyone else who's flamed me in the past two years. I could have been an emotionally well-adjusted person instead of the callous asshole that I am!

On a more serious note, ironically, according to the NPR story on ATC yesterday, the only person who has actually felt any real-life effects is a moderator named in the suit. He had a job offer retracted once the hiring law firm heard he was mixed up in this. I don't recall that either of the chicks who are suing had any hard evidence that they'd lost possible jobs because of being flamed or insulted anonymously on the forum.

I thought you were joking at first because I honestly didn't think you were a callous asshole. But then I read your last sentence only to conclude that you must, in fact, be a callous asshole afterall. These 'chicks' suffered something far more mailicious than 'being flamed or insulted anonymously on the forum'.

[Surlethe]

I thought you were joking at first because I honestly didn't think you were a callous asshole. But then I read your last sentence only to conclude that you must, in fact, be a callous asshole afterall. These 'chicks' suffered something far more mailicious than 'being flamed or insulted anonymously on the forum'.

Then perhaps I misremembered the NPR story yesterday. What, pray tell, was going on that was far more malicious than anonymous flames and insults?

[General Trelane (Retired)]

Then perhaps I misremembered the NPR story yesterday. What, pray tell, was going on that was far more malicious than anonymous flames and insults?

From one of the articles linked in the OP:

According to court documents, a user on the site named "STANFORDtroll" began a thread in 2005 seeking to warn Yale students about one of the women in the suit, entitled "Stupid Bitch to Enter Yale Law." Another threatened to rape and sodomize her, the documents said.
[. . .]
Some posts made false claims about her academic record and urged users to warn law firms, or accused her of bribing Yale officials to gain admission and of forming a lesbian relationship with a Yale administrator, the court papers said.

And in another:

The law students aren’t named in the suit — filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Connecticut — which claims the defendants violated copyright infringement by posting photos of one of the women without her permission, falsely posing as the women in posts on the site, and engaging in “unreasonable publicity given to another’s life; publicity that places another in a false light before the public; intentional infliction of emotional distress; negligent infliction of emotional distress; and defamation.”

IMO, that goes way beyond anonymous flames and insults and, if proven true, is certainly malicious. Of course, these are simply allegations at this point, and we've only heard the one side so far, so that does give me pause.

[Darth Wong]

That's a good point. If someone is urging others to do you harm in real-life, that goes far beyond merely saying "You're a fucking idiot", for example.

[Lord Poe]

That's a good point. If someone is urging others to do you harm in real-life, that goes far beyond merely saying "You're a fucking idiot", for example.

Interesting. There's a couple of posters on a certain forum who wanted people to come to my house and shoot me, IIRC...

The law students aren’t named in the suit — filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Connecticut — which claims the defendants violated copyright infringement by posting photos of one of the women without her permission,

Hey Mike, wanna see if we can get a certain Youtube video taken down?

[Gil Hamilton]

I'm going to sue Admiral Valdemar. He keeps making me want to slit my wrists when he posts and I want a big big payout for my emotional distress.

[General Trelane (Retired)]

I'm going to sue Admiral Valdemar. He keeps making me want to slit my wrists when he posts and I want a big big payout for my emotional distress.

I'd like a big payout for your emotional distress too!