Love them or hate them, trolls had better watch out, at least here in the UK where one has been jailed for his offensive remarks; BBC News - Trolling: Who does it and why? Obviously this guy was more extreme than the friendly trolls we get on here, but jailing someone for such comments? hmmm i'm not sure about that.
Jail is too harsh for even the most extremist troll output; stricter moderation is really all that's needed to cure 90% of the affliction. But I will say I would not be at all surprised if any of our most notorious trolls was never heard from again the day after some atrocity involving firearms made national headlines.
I think most forms of trolling we see here at PriusChat are just annoying. But I think the primary issue with the UK jailing is that the individual in question was crossing the line into hate crimes. In the same vein, the UK is jailing some individuals who used social networking sites to incite and organize riots. Both actions are punishable in the U.S.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Thank you Founding Fathers.
Try yelling "Fire" in a crowded theater or "Firestone" in a crowded Ford Explorer. Your right to free speech won't be abridged, but your right to free speech won't release from liability for the damage you cause with your free speech.
Jailing is a bit extreme, but he could easily be accused of stalking and then be court-ordered to stay away from the Internet without ruffling anyone's feathers.
Double posting to say Here's a more in depth article about this creep. I'd say his own life is his the worst punishment he can get: "The court heard that Duffy, who is unemployed, suffered from Asperger’s syndrome and lived a “miserable existence” drinking alcohol alone at home." - is anybody surprised by this revelation?
I'd say give him 30 minutes in a room alone with the relatives of the people he mocked. If they choose to forgive him then fine but if not, then too bad.
Sometimes I think these wingnuts that are so vocal with their nonsense in internet chatgroups are on the Koch brothers payroll. A lot of the extremist stuff is slipping into the mainstream via advertising because of the willingness of the media to accept it--even the NY Times.
And? Why would I want it any other way? Unless you seriously contend that trolls on the internet are endangering lives, I am not sure what your point is.
I'd like the next release of vBulletin has a "Beam Me up Scotty" option for trollers to do as GrumpyCabbie suggests... __________________________ More realistic, a database for the truly serial trollers....thinking of one that has been at numerous EV/hybrid sites - shut one site down. If anyone gets on that database, they get infected with a worm that causes his computer OS to troll on the troller. Only resolution is he has to go to an authorized shop to fix it for $5000 and have it in his public record he is a serial troller.
Extreme anti-social behavior, like the guys who real-life troll the funerals here. I do believe something should be done about them. What he did was only possible because of the internet, he wouldn't have dared in real life.
I believe that is xs650's point. He is talking about trolling to the point where it threatens life and liberty of others, not the trivial trolling we get here, where about the worst is when someone compares our beloved Prius to a trash can hit with the ugly stick. Tom
