Teen Sues MySpace For Not Protecting Her
from the blame-the-one-with-the-money dept
It had to happen sooner or later. With all of the attempts by the press, "family groups" and politicians to blame MySpace for the irresponsible behavior of its members, someone was going to sue eventually. A mother and her teen daughter are now suing MySpace and News Corp. for $30 million for not protecting the 14-year-old girl from being sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old boy. Clearly, the 19-year-old was at fault here -- and has been arrested for his actions. To then go on and sue MySpace is ridiculous. Do people sue the phone company for facilitating sexual assault when it happens over the phone? Or the ISP when it happens over email? This is just a blatant attempt to cash in on an unfortunate situation.
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I hope this gets thrown out of court. I'm tired of seeing stupid people suing just to get rich. It's hardly ever the services' fault for problems like these...it's the end users
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This has to end
Add this to the frivalous suits filed daily. Like the fat people suing fast food chains for "making them fat" or the hot coffee lady who spilled coffee on herself and sued for it.
I hope they spend 40 million just so the girl doesn't get 30 million.
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pathetic people
The fact that the girl had her own MySpace and that she chose to chat with people on it was her fault. Yes the bot is at fault for assualting her but it is completely her fault that she even met him. The guy was arrested and thats it, there is no need to go any further and sue MySpace. Her and her mom are both just greedy bitches trying to get money.
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Good Grief
They should not only throw the case out but take the child away from the mom. Obviously she can not control or supervise her own daughter thus she should be removed fromt he home, That will teach her!
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She deserves it
She probably did it and when he didnt wanna be with her ass she decided to cry about it. I've seen this happen before. Sueing myspace is so stupid just as the article says. Its not their fault the stupid girl was dumb enough to hook up with a 19 year old in the first place. Did they make her do it, no, did they make her get into a compromising situation with a 19 year old, no. god people are so dumb i feel stupider just knowing they walk the earth.
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Um, hello!
This chick is lame! And her parents...what are they doing letting her hang with a 19 yr old guy?
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My space
I needed a site turned off at MySpace. It took their ISP 30 min to remove the site.
Think they are good when a problem happens.
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dosn't myspace have a UA [User Agrement]?
legal bable stuff saying there not lieable for any that that happens to you.. or is that there not lieable for what happens to your computer? ether way.. arnt thay like by law not lieable for actions of its users? like Kazaa and Sharbear and other file sharing networks saying that thay are not lieble for your actions?
yes i know myspace isnt filesharing just those were the only things that came to mind
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"...or the hot coffee lady who spilled coffee on herself and sued for it. "
Although a cup of coffee is supposed to be "hot", the problem in this case was that it was at/near boiling temperature when served. It most likely would have burned her one way or another, but your crotch tends to suffer a little longer than your mouth.
Was she stupid? Yes Should the coffee been so dangerously hot? No Oh well...$hit happens.
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Re: This has to end
Well - on initial perusal it would seem this is frivolous however I am now wary of only knowing a tiny bit of the story. I felt the lady at McDonalds was dumb for suing cause she spilled coffee on herself until I learned popular culture and the media had it all wrong. The complaint was that the coffee McDonalds served her was SO hot that it actually melted the styrofoam cup in her hand and the coffee dumped on her. However someone spun the story against her like she was incompetent when that was far from the truth.
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I think MySpace should just require users to be 18 and over. That way they cover their asses from underaged fools who feel they have been "taken advantage of". Chances are, the kiddies will just lie about their age in order to stay on MySpace, but at least MySpace won't be at fault. It all boils down to the parents and their ability (or lack thereof) to monitor their children.
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Re: Re: This has to end
"The complaint was that the coffee McDonalds served her was SO hot that it actually melted the styrofoam cup in her hand and the coffee dumped on her."
Wow! McDonalds must have been brewing their coffee in a pressure cooker! I mean, styrofoam really shouldn't melt at the boiling point of water, and since coffee is by in large, flavored water, I really doubt the styrofoam would have melted even if the coffee was served at boiling temperature. Or, maybe the styrofoam did melt. Seems that she should have sued the cup manufacturer.
Hmmm.... fishy-fishy....
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The McDonald's case is a pet peeve of mine...
To check out the facts, try looking here.
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No one ever owns up to their faults
The guy should be in jail. I want to start with that. The legal system appears to have this part right.
But money grubbing mom and daughter suing MySpace because this 14 y/o met a stranger that was at least 17 or 18 (she knew he was a senior), that is a crock. It is not MySpace's job to make sure that this little 14 y/o is properly supervised and not being a bit of a whore. Sorry if I sound judgemental, but I think this is part of what is wrong with our country anymore. Nothing is our fault. Someone should have prevented us from doing something we know better than to do.
Maybe whore is a bit strong of a word, but I know that if my little sister had asked to go and hang out with a senior when she was that age..one that parents did not know. They would have laughed at her, and possibly grounded her for even asking. So I think maybe mother and daughter should sue each other, and leave MySpace out of it.
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Well I read the original article, and it seems like the main point of the lawsuit is that myspace isn't protecting its members by verifying any of the user information. They argue that myspace should require either credit card information or a verified email address (like the one I have from my college) Here is the prolem with that, myspace appeals to all the kids, it is their own space. How many 15 year olds do you know with a credit card, verified email address, drivers liscense, or anything else that you might dare trust an online company with to verify your identity? I didn't have anything that I would trust myspace with untill I was 18 and went to college. The email address they gave me would have verified my identity, but my then I was past myspace's prime market. If this lawsuit goes through it will kill myspace because 90% of their users will not be able, or willing to verify their identies.
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Kill all the Lawyers.....
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This suit is BS.
This is more about trying to take advantage of a bad situation by trying to milk MySpace out of money.
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wow
It is very unfurtunate what has happened to this young child,however it is ridiculas that her and her parents are sueing myspace, the blame should actually be put on her parents for not keeping the computer in which this girl was useing in a family room without supervision, if anyone is to blame it is the parents who have neglected their child, and since they cannot sue themselves they should have children services called on them and do an investgation on the whole family wtf is this darn world coming to when people want to pass the blame and not take responciblity for their own and thier chilren's action,,,,,,,I LOVE MYSPACE,,,, but i am carfull of who i talk to and who i invite into my life,,, Tom i am behind you 100% man dont take it laying down fight it to the end, I love ya man ,, peace out.
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Re:
if the user is under 18 there is this HUGE warning thing that says "under 18" or something...it is not up to myspace to babysit...this comes down to once again parents not being parents...if parents watched their kids these lawsuits would never happen...but they dont hence why we have the grand theft auto lawsuits, the marilyn manson lawsuits, the ratings lawsuits, its a neverending event in this country...parents dont have to be parents anymore its always someone elses fault..so unless her profile was fake (which wouldnt surprise me its the internet afterall) its both of their faults...she should never have met this person and he should never have assaulted her...he's being punished for what he did and she should be punished for wasting tax dolllars on something this frivilous
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MySpace partial fault.
I read the article linked to this post and it seem like the mySpace had not done a very good job at screening underage users. The lawsuit is a clear overkill and it will probably end in fiasco but most likely MySpace's age reuirements will get tighter just to prevent similar lawsuits. According to article the company was notifeid by officials about theys bad screening process but nothing was done. This lawsuit will make sure something is done about it.
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Re: The McDonald's case is a pet peeve of mine...
I am so bookmarking that link.
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Stupidity.
Yeah seriously, as an avid myspace user to get my photography out in the world, i see young teenage girls dressing like porn stars and they are 15 and 16 and then i see who they have added as friends, its like big black dudes and old white men and mexicans...but see people have a little something called...common sense. which this girl clearly doesnt have...perhaps she has a mental disability...
myspace is good for me i enjoy the bussiness ive been getting...its a tool that can be effectivly used by bands, websites, and artists like me...but like other tools it can be abused by a child molester...but in this case she wasnt innocent like a child, she knew what she was doing.
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Re: MySpace partial fault.
Do you really think so? I read the article also, and it sounds like everyone else expecting MySpace to do the parent's job. The fact that this girl knew the boy was a senior, hence at least 3 years her senior, shows that she was not all that naive about what was going on.
I really feel bad that she was assulted, but MySpace cannot stop her from talking to a stranger that she sees at the mall and thinks is attractive. The same guy could have met her at the mall and approached her, she would have giggled and flirted and trade phone numbers. Then the same thing would have happened. Would she then sue the mall for not protecting her from the 19 year old man?
Where does it end? Does this girl realize her lawsuit essentially means says she thinks that cars should have auto speed control that speed limit signs control, that McDonald's should have a detection system that can tell when she is full and take the rest of her food away, or that if she is up past 9pm on a school night, a school official should come and place her in her bed and tie her down because she is not able to control this herself. This is just greed and lack of responsiblity, except for the assailant (sp). It seems that he is getting what is due to him, but I think the mother might need some guidance from child warefare services, and the girl needs to talk with someone about self control and responbility.
Sorry, but I just think that we are opening doorways to total and complete loss of free will if we keep suing because someone didn't stop us from doing something that we KNEW we should not be doing.
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MySpace at ZERO fault.
Keeping underage children off a website, is their parents job. MySpace cannot keep kids off myspace by uping the age to 18 lets says, because they will just freakin' lie.
Parents need to get up off their irresponsible hides and watch what their kids do for a goddamn change, and stop expecting everything to be automated service. If you wanted MySpace to watch your kids for you, pay them like you pay a nanny, and continue to shell out money and be just a useless a parent as you've ever been.
As for this case: throw it out of Court.
As for the plaintiffs: throw them into exile for being pathetic.
As for the plaintiff's lawyers: throw them off our Earth, and purge the world of more stupidity.
Objectiveness: Just no. You seem like one of those useless "I want everything done for me" type of parents (or future parent). For the sake of yourself, and your possible children, lets hope you don't have any (at least until you get your head out of your... butt).
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im gonna sue the government
i got molestered in the united states
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Why bother?
This isn't even worth the publicity. There is no chance of this lasting in court. Its peoples own faults for being attacked on myspace. If they were smart they wouldn't let themselves get into these situations in the first place.
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MYSPACE
that girl is one retarded whore for meeting a dude off the internet. and her parents are twice as ignorant for not teaching there daughter not to be a whore. the whole family should be beat.
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Re: MYSPACE
AMEN
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Re: Re: MySpace partial fault.
Disgusted American:
I'm impressed, good points made, I never really thought of it that way. Kind of scary to think that we're suing corperations for not telling us what we can/can't do. Next the government will come in and take advantage of cases likke this, and justify the right of herding us like sheep/cattle by stripping us of our free will, since this case clearly states that we as teenages/parents don't know ANY better.
*shiver* (feels freedom being eyed by evil politicians)
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Re: Re: Re: This has to end
No melted styrofoam, but coffee just under boiling. She had to have skin grafts okay? And the MickeyD's in question had hundreds of complaints for coffee that was too hot. Way hotter than BigMac told them to brew it, and not held to cool off prior to sale like BigMac told them to do. In short the site decide to serve up cups of boiling water and this lady happened to be unlucky enough to have the lid pop off in her lap. Skin grafts. From "coffee".
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Re: The McDonald's case is a pet peeve of mine...
Yeah. Bookmarked. Nothing will stop idiots from claiming it was just coffee, but it's nice to have a link to *try* to illuminate dim minds with.
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Parents are always blaming others for their lack of concern of their childrens lives. It's always easier to blame TV, school, internet, or who knows who when their kids do something stupid...
"blame canada"...
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Re: Re: Re: MySpace partial fault.
Thanks for the compliment SirChi. I mean it may seem extreme, but it seems to be opening the door to a controlled society. If we have to sue everytime someone does not supervise us, then we do not need to be allowed to have freedoms at all. Sorry about some of the bad grammar in that post. I was just a bit worked up about this. I know someone that was going to sue because of something that happened that they knew they should not be doing, and it just makes me ill. It was hard to say that to a friend, but I thought it was time to speak up. :)
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This is crazy
If a girl chose to chat online with a boy of this age she obviously must have agreed in some way to meet him or must have given personal information so the boy although he is to blame she also has brought this amongst herself. She should not sue myspace for her own stupidity.
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Blame the Mother
THe mother should have been the one making sure she wasnt on any sites that she shouldn't be on, not to mention the fact that when the child left the house she had all intentions of knowing what could possibly happen. Children should have restricted sites and parents should monitor better!! Put the mom in jail!
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Re: Re: Re: MySpace partial fault.
It is called Socialism. And it is coming.
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Not a good comparison
Comparing myspace.com to a simple point-to-point transport, like the 80+ year old phone service, is foolish.
First of all, myspace.com provides a directory service far more complex than a phone directory, and lists kids. (Try to get a phone listing as a 14 year old, with the label "TeenHotty".)
Second, myspace.com provides a huge number of "features" that go beyond point to point communication, such as hosted content, (including pictures). If you try to compare this with voicemail service, again -- consider if a 14 year old can get voicemail service on their own from AT&T.
The problem is simply that content hosting companies which accept content from people not of full legal age (18 in America) have to be cognisent of the risks. Myspace.com has played fast and loose with the risks because they wanted to grow quickly, and now that problem is coming back to roost.
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How is this anyone's fault but the man who did it?
To say that this is the parent's fault is ridiculous! I wouldn't want my parents hanging over my shoulder constantly to monitor my online activity. This is partially the girl's fault for not being responsible, but nobody seems to want to blame the assailant. Myspace holds no responsibility to this and should not be sued.
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Re: How is this anyone's fault but the man who did
Many posts in this have mentioned that he was wrong and should be in jail. No one disagrees with this. We just think that the MySpace people cannot control and should not control this. This girl was going to meet her a guy one way or another it sounds like. Like I said earlier, who is to say she sees this same man at the mall and doesn't leave with him there. Parents love to leave their kids at the mall unsupervised, but the kids make these choices. Responsibility is just something that no one wants to take on this issue.
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This is such the commentary on the failings of our
Look, I understand that the parents are to blame for some, the 19 year is to blame for a lot, and the 14 yr old is just naive, but society should be a mechanism to allow people to grow up with some protections. I mean would you knowingly allow people to do harm to others? If you could do something to stop the rape of a 14 year old girl, wouldn't you do something?
Now I am not saying that the lawsuit has merits, but realistically what service does myspace provide for social benefit, or is there no effort in this world to protect our children from being stupid (which we all were at 14, so lets not kid ourselves) If it took a 80 year woman with 3rd degree burns to get McD's to cool off coffee, why did we wait till a 14 yr old got raped to realize that this site really should have had more parental controls to prevent this crap from happening.
We as adults should do everything we can do to protect any child from any part of the world. It is our jobs to do so. If you live in a box and only care about your own family and not the children of others, then get off of my planet, your taking up valuable space, air and water.
Sometimes people see only the money, which typically is set high enough to get attention, rather than show what the parents are actually after. If they sue for $10, then MySPace just settles and moves on. This way they get the press they want, the exposure the problem needs, and I really doubt the family wouldn't give any amount to have their daughter not go through the years of nightmares and self loathing she will have, so back off a bit and think of how you would act if it was your daughter....
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If your child is walking down the street and a man pulls up and offers a piece of candy and your child gets in...
Do you sue the candy company for providing such an irresistable product?
Do you sue the car company for providing the criminal a means of transportation?
In the end it was your child that got in the car.
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Changes
What ever happened to kids playing outside? Nowadays they camp in front of computers which offer way too many outlets for trouble. Sure the guy is at fault, but so is a society that has made it neccessary for two parents to work leaving children to raise children.
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Re:
Thank you Tom. I hope wirelessguy above you reads that. Where does it stop?
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Re: Changes
Both parents do NOT need to wrok, IF they would cut back on the frills of life.
I live in California, and my family is doing just fine on one income.
Thank God I'm able to provide for my family, and the wife can stay home if she wants. Do we have all the fancy new toys ? Nope, but we've got a roof over our head, and a small backyard.
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To anonymous coward
Just because you are fortunate enough to receive the pay so that one of you can stay home doesn't mean it is capable all across America. I am willing to bet that the amount of families where children are often at home parentless far outweighs your situation.
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Doesn't it just make you wanna detonate every nuclear weapon on earth until we're all dead? Or is that going too far?
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Solution
$1.00 lifetime fee for myspace. kiddies have to pay somehow (i.e. parents credit card). Genius! Parents will finally take responsibility
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I'm filing a lawsuit against amaco cause some punk kid at the gas station decided to squirt me with the gas pump and throw a match at me.... After he goes to jail for a long time, somebody should still pay me money!
I hit a piece of wood in the road before too. I think it's time I sued the department of transportation cause one of their users is a moron and didn't tie it down....
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Re:
this has nothing do do twith the article!
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Could stupid suits like this exist because the justice system is messed up? Almost everybody, if not all, here agree that the one at guilty is the boy, and although we feel sorry for the girl, it was her own fault along the mom's lack of parenting guidance. However, Myspace gets the blame. We all see suits like this happen all the time!!! and that is pretty disturbing. When the general population agrees on one thing but the court ruling goes the opposite way, there's something extremely wrong with the system.
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And the parents where were? Bad parenting to let their daughter go out without questioning. And stupid of the daughter to go out with someone she met on the net. What parents get when they use the net to raise their children.
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My Space
This is utterly stupid where was this CHILDS mother while her 14 yr old daughter was doing this . I honestly think the mother should be arrested for child neglect.
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ok, every one is going to hate me for this, but i don't care. I wouldn't always just blame the 19 yr old, and this is why: when i was 20 this girl came up to me in a book store and started flirting with me. She was cute, and "looked" about my age, so one thing lead to another, and after the "deed" was done, she confessed she was only 15! I about died, i thought for sure i was going to jail for HER decite! I don't know if that is the case here, but i have seen young girls WILLINGLY seduce older guys in their late teens and early twenty's. conclusion......BLAME THE PARENTS!!!!!!!
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Re: Re: Re: Re: This has to end
I still don't agree with this because of this lawsuit its hard to get a halfway decent cup of coffee nowadays because everyone is afraid of being sued because the coffee is too hot...
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sue the government
Sue the government for not protecting my toe from that wall!!!
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Re: This is such the commentary on the failings of
myspace is a social-networking site with over 80 million people it is impossible to screen every profile, there is no way to know if her profile was real or not, she did not buy the pc her parents did, since its the parents pc they should be being parents and see what their kids are doing...this is not myspaces fault...they didnt hold a gun to her head and say meet this person or else, or you need to put pictures on so skeevy guys can harass you
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McDonalds
Sorry to jerk at an off shoot of the conversation but I read the report on the McD's case and it still doesn't make sense. How does one manage to pour the entire contents of an upright container upon themselves especially while removing a lid? I could see if she was testing the lids steadfastness by holding it upside down and the top fell off but have you ever tried to pour liquid out of a cup that's standing straight up?
Now in styrafoam cups there is some "give" and a shift in shape could have caused some liquid to spill out. You may shake your finger at me now and call it mearly symmantics (sp?) but realize this is a legal case. Whether it was the full cup or part of the cup matters. I've been burned before and know that a few drops of coffee vs the whole thing matters.
It's still her responsability to make sure that she is safe with the coffee. If she was at home and the same thing happened, who would she sue? I'm sure she didn't know that McDonald's coffee was 185F. I'm sure she can't tell the difference between 140F and 185F being poured on her. So how did she know? If it was at home would she have sued the coffee pot maker? What about the coffee company? There product in it's inteded form can be dangerous. Maybe all coffee should need to be cold from now on.
I just think that everyone needs to take more responsability for their actions. You fall at company X because they didn't mop up a spill and didn't have warning signs, it's their fault, lawsuit. They have signs and the aisle blocked off and you still walk down it, your fault.
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Sue the twit and her parents
They should counter sue the parents for being irresponsible in letting their daughter on in the first place and even letting her go out with this 19 year old. She got what she deserved and he's getting what he deserves.
On my router, MySpace.com is blocked. None of my kids are aloud there...
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That slut deserved to get raped.
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Re: Not a good comparison
Actually, it's a damn good comparison.
The printed press is much older than the telephone and people put out Personal Ads. Perhaps the phone didn't appeal to your sensibilities, but the argument is that you can't sue the vessel for the contents. How about newspapers with "personal ads" which has led to dubious "anonymous" meetings with dire consequences. Myspace has done nothing new, nothing novel, nothing out of the ordinary. They have only carried messages, and in the case of this frivolous lawsuit, the message of an asshole to the eyes of an idiot. The blame lies firmly in several places, but not with the medium used to carry it.
A more appropriate analogy might be printing presses, publishers and more to the analogy, books. Remember, not only the Bible (whatever religeon you acknowledge) was written down in books, but so was "Mein Kampf". Can you sue the author of that book? The publisher? All publishers of all books? The owners of the printing presses? The producers of the ink the printing press used?
Clearly the logic does not hold, no matter how many blood cells flush your face. Try putting some of that angry blood in your brain and think of it logically. This is an absurd argument, and one that should be treated harshly as opportunistic and riding the wave of popular anti-myspace and anti-Internet bias.
The owners and employees of myspace.com are no saints. They have plenty to atone for, but... this shameless plea for someone to blame is not among them.
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myspace sucks
It is truly dissapointing that myspace is being sued, but they are not being responcible for the content of their site or monitoring whats on it or who is using it. I found that some of my daughters friends pages contained photos of minors consuming alcohol, drug use, and with photos of drugs as well and copyrighted photos? when i sent them an e-mail in question to this they basicly told me eat s__t and and dident even answer my questions correctly, i truly hope they get a little more control over their site, because the way its going now they are asking for trouble. the site does have its benefits though the police and schools can monitor students and drug dealers by checking out their pages and who they are talking to, i guess when find kids and druggies get smart they will stop using myspace
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Re:
Okay -- now you're just braggin!
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Re: Sue the twit and her parents
Thank you for being such a great parent and role model worthy of emulation.
The word is "allowed".
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Re: myspace sucks
One question. How would MySpace know the age of the girl / guy in a picture? I mean honestly a lot of kids try so hard to be grown up so young now.
And guess what, underage drinking and illegal drug use started WAY WAY WAY before the internet. So let us quit thinking that there is a contribution being made here by social network sites.
It is not MySpace's job to control the actions that your children's friends perform. I would hope you said something to your children about this. I must say though this is an interesting way to babysit kids. Let them go out and run around all the time with their friends, and then spy on MySpace and catch them doing something in a picture. How about talking to them about it and just praying that you did what you could do? That seemed to be what parents used to do.
And what kind of "trouble" is MySpace heading for exactly? I mean, the only person running a risk is the person posting the pictures. And even then, teachers using pictures from MySpace to get onto their students is tragic. It really is not the schools job to monitor what a child is doing at 7pm on a Saturday night. Or even over the summer. Schools have no right to suspend a student because there is a picture of them drinking on the internet. That is stupid, and does not even make sense. That is like saying that you can suspend kids that get a speeding ticket. Wake up.
As for police, well the kids know that the picture get looked at by lots of different people. There is a risk there. But like I said, you are not stopping any of these activites by busting them on MySpace. You just force them to hide it better. Maybe up front discussions would work better than hoping to just have some kind of supervision by social networking websites.
Parents are so out of touch with children anymore. It is sad that I spend more time with my little cousin than the parents do in a week on average. They have jobs, but they have all of their things to do also. Well when you become a parent, you lose some of that. Today's parents just hope that the internet or TV will handle their job so they can still have "a life." Well it doesn't work that way. That's being their buddy more than their parent. Sad really. Do not have kids if you are not ready to be a responsible parent that is proactive instead of reactive.
Okay I will step down from my soapbox now. Sorry if that got too long winded.
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bad parenting?
"If you interact on MySpace, you are safe, but if a 13-year-old or 14-year-old goes out in person and meets someone she doesn't know, that is always an unsafe endeavor,"
i concur with this statement. it's the fault of the parents not the site. she had nothing to fear online. once she shuts the computer down and goes to meet this dude, it becomes the parents resonsibility.
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Re: your lame ass
Oh, just shut up. The conversation, while divergent, was going along just peachy, till you chimed in with your two-worthless cents. No one deserves to get raped you moron, let alone that isn't even what is being discussed here.
You should be ashamed.
//tif
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An interesting idea
While reading this article and these comments, my boyfriend reminded me about his problem with MySpace. He is fond of hanging out in cafes surfing the web, but about a week ago mentioned that he just couldn't take it anymore. Every time he went to a new page it was breasts and naked girls left and right. I've noticed this too, how many of us have gotten "friend requests" from what was once known as camwhores? Its absurd.
An idea, how about instead of making all MySpace users submit some form of proof of age, just make anyone who wants to display a photograph submit that proof? This would at least eliminate part of the temptation of these predators. Further, the parents should be happier because nothing like finding out that little Jane's display name is "Porn Star In Training," and her picture is practically X-rated.
I do agree with what has been said above, so far as the fact that the parents should have taken a more active role, and that the lawsuit itself is frivolous. I do think it is somewhat unfair, and unrealistic to assume that all parents have the time, patience or aptitude to understand all of the trouble that their kids could be getting into. I think that this isn't really a new or different problem. When he was a kid, my dad used to go get drunk in the dunes. When I was a kid, I used to sneak out my window, just to see my friends. We all do stupid things. The question here shouldn't be who is to blame, but what we can all do to work at making it better.
And, as clichéd as that sounds, I think it really is true. I don't think that protecting children is completely up to MySpace or up to the parents, or even up to us. Other users of MySpace. Query: How many times have you reported a user you suspected was underage? Yea, me either. It really is something we should all think about. One last note, forbidding things doesn’t make them go away. I would caution parents that simply block access to MySpace without explaining to their kids why. The kids are going to figure out ways around you, but you probably have a good enough relationship with them to explain the situation in such a way that they wont want to. Whatever you do, don’t underestimate your child’s ability to get in trouble, thwart your rules or find a nice sized loophole. That’s the best thing my folks ever did for me…
//tif
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im taking the girl's side here... myspace doesnt have the protections that services like facebook have built-in, such as not being able to see someone's profile before they confirm you as a friend. myspace needs to strengthen its privacy and prevent sick internet voyeurs from stalking cute girls. maybe you people should step up your game and pick up a chick like a man.
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Re: An interesting idea
Well thoughtout post. I guess I have been slinging the "blame" around more than I should have.
I just think it is sad that the mother is so greedy that she is using this sad event to milk some money.
We all could be more proactive some, but along the same lines, if I cannot tell if someone in a pic is a kid, I am not going to report it.
Point taken though about looking for better solutions instead of trying to blame people. And my mother to this day would be lost trying to figure out what I do on the internet. And loopholes are always to be found. I would just go to a friends house to watch Cinemax as a kid when my parents would not allow me to at home. So you are right about talking to them about MySpace, not just blocking it from them.
Once again good post, and thank you for stating the "she deserved it" remark was a bit harsh. No one likes what happened to this little girl. Instead of this lawsuit, maybe she should grow from this and speak to other young girls (and boys) about this kind of trap. Just a thought.
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Re:
Interesting. Well once again as posted earlier, we will try and get the speed control installed on your car so you cannot speed, because the car companies allow you to speed and you do not know better.
And the whole macho "step up.." blah blah...lay off the testosterone (sp). Yes this are very sick people that need help, but that kind of attitude is not really going to change anything.
And "pick up a chick like a real man." You are lucky there are not some hard core femanists on here reading or they would lay into you for that remark. Just because they are over 18, does not mean you should not show a woman some respect.
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myspace sucks
my last sentance should of read..."i guess when kids and druggies get smart they will stop using myspace", and if any of you fathers or moms are in question about your security, there are internet tracer programs out there for the criminals and police to find out who people are and where they live, and i guess some of you guys responding dont have daughters or small children or cousins or nieces or grand kids, but it does suck when some piece of trash rapes them, and it sucks even more when some irresponcible website knows that this is possible, but does nothing to stop it, or at least try to control it, that alone could be case enough.
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Re: myspace sucks
May I ask why young children are even on MySpace? That is like the 8 year olds you see with cel phones and makeup lather so thick they look like clowns. You are asking for trouble by giving them grown up toys when they are still kids.
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Bull S
People should know that this is a bunch of Bull Shit a 14 year should not even think about meeting someone from an online service. I have two kid that are 15 and 16 that know that people online can be REAL BAD and not to meet any of them unless I meet them first and any one that tries this BS with my Doughtier would have his ass kick and put in jail by me!
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poor kid... getting a myspace account isn't bad, but puting your picture, birth date, address and info about you really pushes it; it's not a dating service, and your friends most likely know when your birthday is, where you live and all about you. I understand she and her mother are upset, but sue myspace? Why don't they sue that 19 year old kid? 1 Million dollars is a lot, but money isn't going to take away what happened or make them happy.
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Postal Service Heaves Big Sigh Of Relief
Whew! That was close. Just think if they had MAILED LETTERS to each other!
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Re: myspace sucks by Disgusted American
I like your loaded questions, are you a interrogator?, I guess any responce to your questions would end up with a "insult someone or question their integrity or morals response", but for the most part it sounds like your an optimist with a pessimistic attitude, but just to give you a little fuel for the fire, most parents dont have a clue what myspace is, i as well i did not know until my wife (doing her job, listening to her phone calls) overheard her telling a friend about it, my daughter is a very smart 15 year old and was popping up another screen when we would approach the computer to hide her misdeeds, so we had no reason to suspect. Then her friends began to change to a pretty crummy bunch and we were trying to find out where she was meeting them........ aha, myspace, she was giving them the details about her, where she lived, her school and other tasty bits of info and all of her firends were doing the same.
We began to investigate and discovered everything about these other kids and their lives where they lived and when she invited them over i cornered them and asked them just exactly what that marijuana sign means (like i dont know) or why they have photos of drugs on their page?, and i sat them down and lectured them until they left(i was nice about it though), and every time i saw them later. For some reason my daughter lost all of those firends......Hmmmmm?. Anyways kids are wanting to grow up too fast and the way television makes them think they need to a famous dancer or rapper,rockstar,country singer or whatever, i was a kid once and i wanted to be famous as well, and some of them will believe anything to get there as well. i feel if you are your childs friend/parent they will not need to look for another one, but it takes a lot of paticence and i try not to forget how i was a lot like all of my kids.
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Re: Re: myspace sucks by Disgusted American
My whole point is that MySpace is not responsible for the tragedy that happened. The young man and the young girl are both responsible at different levels. Hopefully instead of being destroyed by this she can grow from it.
But trying to pawn off that MySpace did not protect her isn't going to help her grow in my opinion.
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Re: How is this anyone's fault but the man who did
Ben:
You might not want your parents to butt into your business, but if your business is likely to get you sexually assaulted and they are butting in to prevent it, that's called *parenting*.
Everyone involved in this bears some of the responsibility for the outcome, IMO, MySpace to a lesser extent (legally speaking) since their EULA likely exonorates them from wrongdoing. They appear to have done what can be done without infringing on the civil liberties of those who use their site (see also Disgruntled American's comments).
Problem with freedom is, it can get you hurt. Bad decisions get made. So you own up, learn and move on.
At least, that's the hope.
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MySpace should sue her for decimation of character
MySpace should sue her for decimation of character.
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Re: Re: How is this anyone's fault but the man who
Sorry, it's "Disgusted American", not Disgruntled. Must have the post office on the brain.
Thanks for the thought-provoking comments, by the way.
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Re:
Todd, et al.:
No one deserves to get raped. Ever.
//end rant before too many obscenities spew forth.
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Re: This is such the commentary on the failings of
"If you could do something to stop the rape of a 14 year old girl, wouldn't you do something?"
Something, yes, but not anything. Supposing I were present, with a loaded handgun, something that could be done is shooting the girl in the head, preventing the rape. That would work, but is not a valid solution to the problem. Shooting the guy in the head, while still illegal, would be deemed far more acceptable by pretty much the whole of society. Threatening the guy with the gun, telling the girl to call 911, and holding the guy at gunpoint until the police arrive, that is an even better solution (except for the people who feel that someone who would rape a 14 year old girl deserves a shot in the head.) I don't get arrested, she doesn't get raped, and he gets to go to jail for a very long time.
Many of these MySpace problems could be 'cured' by draconian censorship laws, much like the ones in use in China. That would probably solve the problem, as the people smart enough to bypass that sort of thing probably aren't dumb enough to get into these kinds of situations. Turn America into a police state, and you might be able to destroy most of the chances for the pedophiles roaming the malls. But these are not valid solutions to the problem. Benjamin Franklin once said: "People who would trade liberty for security will end up with neither."
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You got to be kidding........
People drive around in a car, spot someone and attack. Should we sue the car dealers or manufacturer???? If this goes forward I will loose my last bit of trust in our justice system.
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Didn't report for this very reason
while setting here reading some of your responses.... it's so clear why so many sexual assaults go unreported.. just for the perpertrator to do it again..
SHE IS FAR FROM AN AUTOMATIC WHORE FOR BEING ASSUALTED....AND LET'S SAY THAT THIS 14 YEAR OLD IS A WHORE.. DOES THAT AUTOMATICALLY GIVE HIM THE RIGHT TO DO AS HE PLEASES... I'M SURE ALOT ON HERE WOULD FIT THAT SAME STEREOTYPE...
she may or may not of used good judgement but I'm sure all of you "adults" on here has always used good judgement.. no I do not agree with them suing MySpace... but what better way to make changes and get the problem out there.. that is the only way in the US to get a problem addressed or noticed.. our legal system is very screwed up..
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we need some bullet control