The Girl Who Will Change the Internet

[Mike Ryan]

In a usual circumstance, I would post this in the and let conversation wallow away in there for the next ten pages or so. However, this is a bit of a different circumstance about online identity. So, for those who smudge the numbers on their birthday (Cough* Mike Ryan *Cough), this may be an article to second guess your decisions online when it comes to your identity

The Girl Who Will Change the Internet

[ZizOiz]

whoa. :o

[Simon Brown]

One point over the dilemma of accountability: On the other hand, if she had a legal obligation to provide accurate details and MySpace required an address, I imagine that would frighten her further.

[Yata]

So what it says is that if that horrible woman is found guilty they are going to pursue millions of people for keeping their identity private? I think not, good sir.

[Myrddin]

Bah! She'll be imprisoned and we'll all live in the fear of laws and legislations that only few will abide by.

'Internet pirating is wrong!'

...

'Ooo, Photoshop on µTorrent!' *Download*

Regardless, who's to say that Yata, usedHONDA, BoltBait, Myrddin or Rick Brewster aren't our real names?

[Mike Ryan]

Well, I can nearly gurantee that Rick Brewster's real name is Rick Brewster.

@Yata; what it is saying is that if this girl is found guilty there is a large chance that lying about your age on a site like Myspace will be a felony.

[harold]

Now that is.. scary

It won't stop anyone from lying about who they are though

There are in fact also websites where you aren't allowed to tell anyone your real name (such as RuneScape), but it's not like they'll press charges.. it's for your own protection.

And they're right about that.. but in that case Megan could be blamed for leaking out her real identity, which is a bit harsh.. but then, this is teh internetz :wink:

[Yata]

This would be one of those laws that are "there" but are rarely enforced. You know at least a few off the top of your head even if you don't realize it. Myr pointed out one, a big one at that, and there are tons of others that affect you daily. Like here, we aren't allowed to have fires in our backyard. EVERYONE has fires in their backyard and unless someone whines the police could care less. They drive by and have not even the slightest problem with it.

[Mike Ryan]

You made a good point Yata, and another good point. All it would take is for you to make somebody on the Internet mad and they could call the police on you for misrepresenting yourself on the Internet. They cannot ignore a complaint, but I dont think they will enforce much without a complaint.

[Yata]

The law is that of a fickle system. First you have set regulations which cannot describe every single situation, then you have different mentalities of those whom enforce those regulations. Unless the circumstances are of such a high extreme as this, I can't say anyone would care.

[ShadowsOfTears]

I think this is a bit outrageous. I read about this when if first happened. Its sad, I have a child of my own and I think I would want justice for it. But the fact of the matter is, is while the woman was harsh and mean to the girl, She's the one responsible for her own actions, not someone else. She's the one that took her life, not Lori whatever her name is. How would it be any different than going and killing someone and saying "Bob told me to do it"?

The story is also one sided. Granted most of what is being said is probably true, but maybe she was mean to her friends. Just something to think about

[harold]

It's a bit sad for a grown-up to bad-mouth a girl so badly that she hangs herself though..

That is somewhat different than (suppose that she was mean to her friends) those friends would have done that

And what's wrong with her mother? How can she just allow her daughter to talk with some random guy who says he thinks she looks "hot"?

[Ash]

Only if you lie to do harm to others would you get into trouble, IMO.

[Simon Brown]

Only if you lie to do harm to others would you get into trouble, IMO.

Except if I am right the lying was related to details on the MySpace profile, not the incident itself.

[Ash]

Only if you lie to do harm to others would you get into trouble, IMO.

Except if I am right the lying was related to details on the MySpace profile, not the incident itself.

I mean as in what the law should be, not in what outcome for this case.

[HITMAN-X-]

Well, I can nearly gurantee that Rick Brewster's real name is Rick Brewster.

@Yata; what it is saying is that if this girl is found guilty there is a large chance that lying about your age on a site like Myspace will be a felony.

Well Brewster is but I would not be to sure on the Rick part as it not what Paint.NET says.

Here something to think about. By us using our real names it could lead to identity theft and other problems. How are you going to force us to use our names ?, I can change my IP every 3 seconds and I know how to change my MAC address as well to ones that are not in use.

I think you have notthing to worry about as they would never be able to pull it off.

[Simon Brown]

I mean as in what the law should be, not in what outcome for this case.

So the allegation of false data will still become a "blanket conviction".

[Crazy Man Dan]

Well Brewster is but I would not be to sure on the Rick part as it not what Paint.NET says.

His name is Eric, but he uses the casual form Rick. Though it's not shorter in letters, it is shorter when spoken.

So no, it wouldn't fall under the purview of this topic. Just like my name isn't technically Dan, it's Daniel. And BoltBait's name isn't really BoltBait, it's Hectaerog, Wielder of the BanHammer of the North.

As to this case, while it is tragic, I don't think there will be any legal repercussions for the mother. I wouldn't mind beating her over the head with an Idiot stick, but there technically is no law against being a jerk to my knowledge.

[brandon.roeder]

wow, i heard about this on the news a while back.

[Crimson]

That was...unsettling. :?

[Yata]

And while I'm totally, utterly disgusted at that horrible woman for doing such a thing, it was the poor girl whom committed suicide. People tell people off all the time, over the internet and in real life, and it's the person's choice what to do. They can punch them out, ignore them, or do something even more extreme like what this girl did. I don't think it was a right decision at all - but I think the girl needed help to stabilize herself.

It was most certainly a balancing act because her mom didn't want to break off the relationship due to her daughter being less liked in her daughter's mind, in which case the daughter may have committed suicide then. Who knows?

But like Shadows said, it's one sided. There were no direct quotations from Lori, or the offending side, just description.

[ShadowsOfTears]

Things are always seemingly more tragic that way. Why ruin a perfectly good story by making it fair to all parties involved. I suppose some would say Lori didn't deserve to have her side told after what she has "done." But lets not forget the fact that other children were involved in this as well. Are they doing to face any kind of repercussions? Only the woman is mentioned, but the children had a part too, so would these laws, if they impose them, effect minors?

And what's wrong with her mother? How can she just allow her daughter to talk with some random guy who says he thinks she looks "hot"?

I thought that was a bit ridiculous too, but she was closely monitoring her "relationship" with him. My question is, why was she letting her giver this random boy her phone number? What could have happened if he wasn't just some vengeful woman down the street, but a child molester just waiting for her to be home alone like she was when her mother took her little sister somewhere? That's the exact reason so many people lie about who they are on the internet!

It was most certainly a balancing act because her mom didn't want to break off the relationship due to her daughter being less liked in her daughter's mind, in which case the daughter may have committed suicide then. Who knows?

I agree with that completely. It seems to me that almost anything could have set this girl off at anytime. This may have just been the icing on the cake. Maybe she was angry at her parents for changing her school? Maybe she was just pretending she was happy because she was a little older, and she was starting to realize her parents were worried about her?

I'm sorry this post is so long winded. I'm just sick of living in a society where is okay to do something because someone else "made" you do it, or because you had a bad childhood. In this case, because someone said something mean to you.

[Longhorns]

Ya i read about this at my school

But those parents must have been messed up to do something like that

that so childish with calling ppl mean names and everything like that

[LFC4EVER]

:shock: Shocking. That's all i have to say.

[Stephan]

I'm not too impressed with the prospect of this becoming a law. I think it's in the privacy stuff of MySpace, so she basically would only get a punishment for breaking that rule of the MySpace ToS. On top of that, most of my online presence already goes by my real name. Yes, I am defiant