off topic, but fitting on these types of boards

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  • bigboydan
    SBR Aristocracy
    • 08-10-05
    • 55420

    #1
    off topic, but fitting on these types of boards
    Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.

    It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

    In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for small favors, I guess.

    This ridiculous prohibition, which would likely imperil much of Usenet, is buried in the so-called Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Criminal penalties include stiff fines and two years in prison.

    "The use of the word 'annoy' is particularly problematic," says Marv Johnson, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. "What's annoying to one person may not be annoying to someone else."

    Buried deep in the new law is Sec. 113, an innocuously titled bit called "Preventing Cyberstalking." It rewrites existing telephone harassment law to prohibit anyone from using the Internet "without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy."

    To grease the rails for this idea, Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, and the section's other sponsors slipped it into an unrelated, must-pass bill to fund the Department of Justice. The plan: to make it politically infeasible for politicians to oppose the measure.

    The tactic worked. The bill cleared the House of Representatives by voice vote, and the Senate unanimously approved it Dec. 16.

    There's an interesting side note. An earlier version that the House approved in September had radically different wording. It was reasonable by comparison, and criminalized only using an "interactive computer service" to cause someone "substantial emotional harm."

    That kind of prohibition might make sense. But why should merely annoying someone be illegal?

    There are perfectly legitimate reasons to set up a Web site or write something incendiary without telling everyone exactly who you are.

    Think about it: A woman fired by a manager who demanded sexual favors wants to blog about it without divulging her full name. An aspiring pundit hopes to set up the next Suck.com. A frustrated citizen wants to send e-mail describing corruption in local government without worrying about reprisals.

    In each of those three cases, someone's probably going to be annoyed. That's enough to make the action a crime. (The Justice Department won't file charges in every case, of course, but trusting prosecutorial discretion is hardly reassuring.)

    source: Cnet/news/digital life
  • Winston Smith
    SBR Wise Guy
    • 09-26-05
    • 752

    #2
    Somehow, the term 'annoy' doesn't strike me as legally binding.
    Comment
    • Illusion
      Restricted User
      • 08-09-05
      • 25166

      #3
      Originally posted by Winston Smith
      Somehow, the term 'annoy' doesn't strike me as legally binding.
      Exactly, not sure how that would stand up in court, lol.
      Comment
      • pags11
        SBR Posting Legend
        • 08-18-05
        • 12264

        #4
        yeah, how in the heck would they prove this?...
        Comment
        • tacomax
          SBR Hall of Famer
          • 08-10-05
          • 9619

          #5
          Originally posted by Winston Smith
          Somehow, the term 'annoy' doesn't strike me as legally binding.
          It really annoys me when people come out with stuff like that.

          See you on Judge Judy, biaaach.
          Originally posted by pags11
          SBR would never get rid of me...ever...
          Originally posted by BuddyBear
          I'd probably most likely chose Pags to jack off too.
          Originally posted by curious
          taco is not a troll, he is a bubonic plague bacteria.
          Comment
          • Winston Smith
            SBR Wise Guy
            • 09-26-05
            • 752

            #6
            Originally posted by tacomax
            It really annoys me when people come out with stuff like that.

            See you on Judge Judy, biaaach.





            Crap, forgot to reveal my full name.
            Comment
            • slacker00
              SBR Posting Legend
              • 10-06-05
              • 12262

              #7
              The U.S. will become a fascist police state during my lifetime. -110
              Comment
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