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Trolling is illegal.

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  • DarkPonyDarkPony Member Posts: 5,566
  • fnorgbyfnorgby Member Posts: 158

    Originally posted by maskedweasel

    Well,  not yet,  but it could be!

     

    http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/arizona-bill-could-criminalize-internet-trolling-184547052.html

    "It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, to use ANY ELECTRONIC OR DIGITAL DEVICE and use any obscene, lewd or profane language or suggest any lewd or lascivious act, or threaten to inflict physical harm to the person or property of any person."

     

    Troll.  Go to Jail.  What do you think?

     

    The Supreme Court generally won't allow bans on speech that are content-based, so the "lewd or profane" part will not fly.  They have allowed bans on obscenity, but it's not easy to craft a law that will pass the Supreme Court's test for this kind of thing.

    The ultimate evidence that this won't survive a court challenge is the very tone of this discussion -- if the community is concerned that otherwise normal speech would now put you at risk of criminal charges, then the law will be seen to have a "chilling effect".  If you think forums will be empty, that's evidence that the law is FAR too broad.

    tl;dr: Don't worry about it.  It's unconstitutional on its face.

    I can also roleplay the tower in a chess game and shout "is that a peasant at the horizon I see? I will smash it I will! Oh damn I broke one of my merlons!". -- maji

  • ThorbrandThorbrand Member Posts: 1,198

    Originally posted by fnorgby

    Originally posted by maskedweasel

    Well,  not yet,  but it could be!

     

    http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/arizona-bill-could-criminalize-internet-trolling-184547052.html

    "It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, to use ANY ELECTRONIC OR DIGITAL DEVICE and use any obscene, lewd or profane language or suggest any lewd or lascivious act, or threaten to inflict physical harm to the person or property of any person."

     

    Troll.  Go to Jail.  What do you think?

     

    The Supreme Court generally won't allow bans on speech that are content-based, so the "lewd or profane" part will not fly.  They have allowed bans on obscenity, but it's not easy to craft a law that will pass the Supreme Court's test for this kind of thing.

    The ultimate evidence that this won't survive a court challenge is the very tone of this discussion -- if the community is concerned that otherwise normal speech would now put you at risk of criminal charges, then the law will be seen to have a "chilling effect".  If you think forums will be empty, that's evidence that the law is FAR too broad.

    tl;dr: Don't worry about it.  It's unconstitutional on its face.

    You can already be fined for normal speech in public if others find it offensive.

  • RemainsRemains Member UncommonPosts: 375

    Pretty amazing if it would go through. image

    Imagine the trolling potential for anyone who DOESNT live in Arizona: just do some quality trolling -> get someone from Arizona to troll back -> watch them go to jail.

    "U mAd broOOo...?!" image image

  • LimitationsLimitations Member UncommonPosts: 85

    Basically everyone who plays the MOBA genre, will be sent to jail. /Fail

    Who said this won't be perfect after all we know what is right
    And the sounds of bodies clashing is enough to make them cry.
    You know this cannot be perfect even when it is feeling right.
    And the sound of bodies crashing echo through the night.

  • UnlightUnlight Member Posts: 2,540

    Anything can be construed as harrassment depending on your perspective.  Besides, I don't think that anyone should have the right to not be offended.  What a boring world it would be if everyone was forced to censor themselves, lest they give offense to some thin-skinned ninny and be prosecuted.  I'd probably have to stop talking altogether (*waits for the cheering*).

     

     

  • SythionSythion Member Posts: 422

    Originally posted by Gajari

    Originally posted by korent1991

    since everyone who says something you don't agree with is a troll today and since this is an excuse for everything...

    The whole population will end up in jail.

    Exactly. 90% of people on the internet don't even realize what trolling ACTUALLY is, and even fewer actually pull off real trolling attempts well.

    People throw the word around as a replacement for "idiot" these days, so that being the case, calling someone else a troll is actually trolling in itself.

    Yup. Whole population.

    This is ironic, because I once got a warning for trolling because I called someone a troll.

    image
  • AmjocoAmjoco Member UncommonPosts: 4,860

    Imagine what Arizona would do to you if you were an illegal trolling the internet. lol

    Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.

  • DLangleyDLangley Member Posts: 1,407

    Everyone please remember that discussing politics is against the ROC. Thanks!

  • GeezerGamerGeezerGamer Member EpicPosts: 8,855

    Politics<>Law

  • AelfinnAelfinn Member Posts: 3,857

    Difficult to enforce, difficult to keep it fair, difficult to even define properly.

    I'd be all for the idea if I thought it would be at all effective in keeping reprehensible behavior down, but I strongly suspect that it will either simply be too weak to have any affect, or be homing in on people that simply don't deserve legal censure.

    No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
    Hemingway

  • DekronDekron Member UncommonPosts: 7,359

    Problem?

  • StonesDKStonesDK Member UncommonPosts: 1,805

    Soon you will have to fill out one of these

    Courtesy of Anonymous

  • korent1991korent1991 Member UncommonPosts: 1,364

    Originally posted by Sythion

    Originally posted by Gajari


    Originally posted by korent1991

    since everyone who says something you don't agree with is a troll today and since this is an excuse for everything...

    The whole population will end up in jail.

    Exactly. 90% of people on the internet don't even realize what trolling ACTUALLY is, and even fewer actually pull off real trolling attempts well.

    People throw the word around as a replacement for "idiot" these days, so that being the case, calling someone else a troll is actually trolling in itself.

    Yup. Whole population.

    This is ironic, because I once got a warning for trolling because I called someone a troll.

    It's common on this forums..

    "Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life."
    -------------------------------

    image
  • eyeswideopeneyeswideopen Member Posts: 2,414

    Arizona needs to stick to raiding taco stands and leave the internet alone.

    -Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.-
    -And on the 8th day, man created God.-

  • tixylixtixylix Member UncommonPosts: 1,288

    Why is everyone so sensitive on the net? Get over yourselves...

  • cdesteycdestey Member Posts: 70

    Originally posted by tixylix

    Why is everyone so sensitive on the net? Get over yourselves...

    I'M A DELICATE FLOWER AND MY FEELINGS ARE REAL!!!

  • Man1acMan1ac Member Posts: 1,428

    Best way is just to do a simple thing. Ignore it.

    We're all Geniuses. Most of us just don't know it.

  • korent1991korent1991 Member UncommonPosts: 1,364

    Originally posted by cdestey

    Originally posted by tixylix

    Why is everyone so sensitive on the net? Get over yourselves...

    I'M A DELICATE FLOWER AND MY FEELINGS ARE REAL!!!

    You sir, just won this thread!

    "Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life."
    -------------------------------

    image
  • ForTheCityForTheCity Member Posts: 307

    This is stupid. Its just meant to be a joke and not taken seriously. 

  • Man1acMan1ac Member Posts: 1,428

    Originally posted by DLangley

    Everyone please remember that discussing politics is against the ROC. Thanks!

    And I think being a Man U supporter should be against the ROC too! :P

    We're all Geniuses. Most of us just don't know it.

  • LeegOfChldrnLeegOfChldrn Member Posts: 364

    Originally posted by maskedweasel

    Originally posted by Kyleran

    If this passes I'm going to hell... er, jail I mean.

    image

    I'm pretty sure most people would... given they live in arizona.

     

    Not sure how this would even work...  we already contend with moderators that are there to police their personal space of the internet,  so - what, they'll just round up the list of bans from MMORPG.com, see who lives in arizona and then make some arrests?

     

     

    Hopefully the moderators of every forum would be the FIRST to get banned. Those which trolled. That would mean many corrupted moderators elmininated, and ALL the moderators at gamedev.net to be imprisoned.

    I'd fully support that law. Gamedev.net is literally a bunch of young adults jacking off each other's ego's while thousands of teenager game-developer-wannabe's go because they think it's cool. All the adults stear clear from that website.

  • LeegOfChldrnLeegOfChldrn Member Posts: 364

    Originally posted by tixylix

    Why is everyone so sensitive on the net? Get over yourselves...

    People actually aren't that sensitive on the net.

    The problem is that people like you act like everyone is suppose to be this rock-hardened felon internet user, completely justifying any trolling or hate-speech spewed out of your or any other real life troll's mouth.

     

    When someone is offended by an incredibly offensive statement, which happens all the time on the internet (ranging from death wishes towards people's families or childre, to endless personal attacks or months of forum bullying) telling them "This is the internet, grow a thicker skin." is NOT, I repeat NOT a justification of one's actions.

     

    A Jerk is still a Jerk, even in Jerk Town.

    A bad person is still a bad person, even in Hell.

    Telling someone "This is the Internet [A Jerk Felon Prison Town from Hell], don't get so offended." doesn't magically make you any less of a we-all-wish-you-were-hell-bound douchebag.

  • LeegOfChldrnLeegOfChldrn Member Posts: 364

    Although this law is obviously not something that will stick around without being amended, I would really really wish a law would be established to start holding internet websites and game servers accountable for bullying that happens on their [virtual] property.

    League of Legends (or any ARTS / MOBA game) as well as some of the nastier FPS games, all harbor some of the most vicious bullying I've ever encountered before. Communities that even Mad Max would consider vile. Bullying which is incredibly [virtually] violent and excessive, especially against children.

    If laws or lawsuits started happening to sue RIOT games (League of Legends) for harboring bullies and creating a bully-friendly bully-supporting atmosphere (and the fact these bullies can infinitely come back, never being banned as accounts are free and there are no IP bans) I'd be really happy. Not because I'm offended or I am sensitive; quite the opposite. I am sick, literally sick, of these people bullying children. Especially when many of these children may have bully problems elsewhere and telling someone to commit suicide online SHOULD be a crime.

     

    I am an extreme anti-bully supporter and would absolutely love some of the heavy-hitters (League of Legends, for example) to be sued and held accountable for their inability and ineptitude at preventing bullying. A simple (awful, slow) tribunal system is far from a solution, and can actually be a FORM of bullying (voting to ban all cases without rational; tribunal trolling). Facebook would also be a much much heavier target and one that deserves as such.

    Even if anti-bullying measures destroyed massive online communities like Facebook or League of Legends in some ways, it may be good for everyone that accountability, anonymity disappearing, or smaller communities replacing larger ones begin to result from it. Facebook would probably have tigher restrictions on anonymity and more accountability. League of Legends would be the same.

    The result would actually NOT be anti-business, as these large businesses (RIOT, Facebook) would actually be required to keep logs of bullying, trolling, chat, etc. (they already do, so no biggie) and then when a subpoena hits their floor they instantly rat out the players and their private information.

    This is exactly the same thing that internet companies have to do when torrenters are caught with illegal activity. They either fork over the logs to the prosecuting attorney, or they get sued for the actions of their guilty customer.

     

    So I'd love to eventually see people suing others for violent verbal bullying and abuse (such as telling others to kill themselves) and suing RIOT until RIOT gives out that persons public information, in which their anonymity is suddenly lost and a civil or criminal case begins holding them ACCOUNTABLE for their actions.

    The internet isn't a magical place where people become inhumane emotionless insensitive warrior-felons. The internet has people who are just as real as everywhere else. You should be held accountable for your actions, and if you want to tell others to kill themselves, you should be held accountable.

    Too bad we don't allow the Scarlet Letter in our society :(

    Branded B for Bully!

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