forum troll sued for $5000.00!! (1 Viewer)

[MikeH1]

For all you potential forum trollers out there, I would think again after reading this article
http://www.cleveland.com/tech/plaind...8693631280.xml

 

[Jack Briggs]

This is interesting.

The way I look at trolling is in terms of vandalism.

HTF is a private Forum open to the public, and members in effect sign a good-faith agreement before joining. And the system works for the most part.

A note to members, though: When you encounter a troll on these boards, please notify the moderating staff and do not reply to the trouble maker in public. Always remember that angry replies and posts are the fuel upon which these attention-seeking losers thrive.

We've had these problems before, and they will crop up again. Just try to do your bit in heading these pathetic people off at the pass.

 

[Travis Olson]

Damn trolls. How did they get that name anyhow? It sounds funny. Anyway, it's nice to see a company really try to do something about the problem. I think it'll be a hard case to win though. Now only if Microsoft would sue 90% of the users on the Xbox Forums.

 

[RobertR]

How did they get that name anyhow?

The name comes from the word "trolling", a fishing term. Trolls are "fishing" for trouble with incendiary posts that have no real purpose other than to stir up trouble.

 

[Andy_S]

The name probably comes from the term "Trolling". From dictionary.com:

To fish for by trailing a baited line from behind a slowly moving boat.

The bait is obscene posts and the "fish" is the response it gets.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Too bad they aren't like the Tolkein trolls who turn into stone when hit with sunlight.

 

[Blu]

Ok, I don't like trolls at all, they are bad but still this is too much.

A lawsuit is not the answer. Perhaps better controls over who can be a member or similar measures but a lawsuit is a extreme measure.

This can just set a very very bad precedent. If someone just doesn't like your opinions they can sue you?
No way. bad bad bad.

 

[nolesrule]

Internet trolls have never seen the sun, so it probably wouldn't make a difference.

 

[John Spencer]

According to the article, the user signed an end-user agreement to post on that site. He knew the rules and still broke them, then kept coming back to do it repeatedly. He's not being sued for his views. He's being sued for violating the rules of their forum, then doing it again and again. I guarantee if he had been banned, then stayed away, nothing would be said. But he kept doing it repeatedly. So I think he should be sued just the same as someone who stands in front of your storefront and screams racial slurs at everyone who passes by.

 

[Robert_eb]

I've never even heard of something like this before. What some people will do for attention is unbelievable.

 

[Ryan Wright]

I say, "Right on." I wish more forum owners would take this step.

As for the claims of it being "extreme", I don't think so. The guy repeatedly creates fake accounts on their forum and posts hateful, racist, vulgar language. They kick him off and he sneaks back on. In the real world we call this "trespassing", or perhaps "stalking". If you made repeat phone calls like this you would go to jail, so why should the Internet be any different?

I had a bulletin board system back in '93, before the Internet was available in my town. I caught someone dealing drugs on the system. He was immediately banned and I told him if he logged on again, I would file a lawsuit as well as talk to the police. He never came back - but if he had, I would have followed through with my threats. Just because these things are done online doesn't make the issue any less serious.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

I find it more fascinating that there is a forum devoted to pest controll.

"Just like anyone else, he'd get in his certain moods and nothing could calm him down,"

What could you possibly read on a pest control forum that would set you off like that?

 

[Todd Hochard]

I applaud them for only going for $5000. In this day of gazillion dollar lawsuits, against the deepest pockets, with the requisite ludicrous attorney's fees, I'm surprised they didn't sue his insurance company or the government.

 

[Yee-Ming]

funny what that lawyer for the Electronic Foundation said about there being no public places on the internet the company could have told the "troll" to go to.
this, to my mind, highlights the fact that although the internet seems free, it isn't in reality, someone's got to pay for the hosting and the connections and the servers. in such a case, a "troll" can't really argue that he's exercising his right to free speech, can he, any more than he could insist the New York Times print his statements for free. the company was surely well within its rights to insist that he honour their terms of use, and to eject him when he repeatedly refused.
same thing applies here

 

[Eve T]

Good for them!

When you break a contract with someone (terms of service) and repeatedly come back and break it again and again you in my eyes are stalking!
This man is hurting this guys business, just because he has his business on a website doesn't make it any less of a business and he should be able to protect it from creeps like that troll.

More power to him. I hope he wins.