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MySpace: A Place for Lawsuits
Social networking site MySpace is hit with a $30 million lawsuit after a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 19-year-old man she met through the site. The suit claims "that the Web site does not require users to verify their age and calls the security measures aimed at preventing strangers from contacting users younger than 16 'utterly ineffective.'"
As the story is told here, the family is missing out on some further opportunities to spread the blame for the man's crime to deeper pockets. Lawyer Adam Loewy
said he was confident about the lawsuit, which he said seeks damages worth 1 percent of the company's estimated worth.
"We feel that 1 percent of that is the bare minimum that they should compensate the girl for their failure to protect her online when they knew sexual predators were on that site," he said.
Both whoever their telephone provider might be, and most likely both the state of Texas and the federal government (ostensible owners of the roads the accused rapist used to meet her and take her to the scene of the crime) seem at fault as well in facilitating his heinous action, as they too surely are aware--or should have been, if they weren't so damn criminally negligent--that sexual predators are on the phone and on the roads.
Jennifer|6.21.06 @ 12:08PM|#
MySpace says on a "Tips for Parents" page that users must be
14 or older. The Web site does nothing to verify the age of the
user, such as requiring a driver's license or credit card number,
Loewy said.
How many 14-year-olds have driver's licenses and credit cards?
fyodor|6.21.06 @ 12:11PM|#
We feel that 1 percent of that is the bare minimum that they
should compensate the girl
Totally aside from whatever merit this case has or doesn't, I find
this logic especially interesting, that the damages should be tied
to some percentage of the company's "estimated worth". I wonder
(and this isn't the first time) if the "treating corporations as
people" that the left rails against facilitates big awards. Seems
it would be a lot harder to bring an executive, even a very rich
one, before a jury and act like the very least this rascal should
pay is ten times his personal worth, or whatever.
|6.21.06 @ 12:23PM|#
Where the fuck were the girl's parents while this was going on?
I've raised several teenage girls, and you can bet that I kept tabs
on their online activities, not to mention their meatspace
activities.
Responsibility has no meaning, though, to a slobbering tort
lawyer.
|6.21.06 @ 12:27PM|#
"not to mention their meatspace activities."
That sounds so wrong in this context.
|6.21.06 @ 12:31PM|#
How many 14-year-olds have driver's licenses and credit
cards?
Yes, I know (stop making sense!!), but I'm sure some lawyer will
point out that many child-oriented sites have login provisions for
parents to acknowledge online that they permit the child to use the
site, and I'm sure there's some state or federal legislation
somewhere (isn't there always) that requires people under 18 to get
some sort of permission, just like those adult sites (which I've
never seen, of course) that post a warning about being over 18 to
view the pages.
Now that that bastion of family values and patriotic fervor, News
Corp, owns Myspace, I'm sure that a) there will be new provisions
forthcoming to address age related problems with the service, and
b) Rupert's barristers will bitchslap the hell out of this girl's
attorneys.
|6.21.06 @ 12:34PM|#
Responsibility has no meaning, though, to a slobbering tort
lawyer.
As a wannabe future attorney, I take umbrage at that remark and
intend to sue for professional defamation.
The Feds will be no-knocking on your door in twenty seconds ...
Dave W.|6.21.06 @ 12:36PM|#
The lawyer's predictions are probably about as accurate as the
predictions MySpace makes about its future revenues. And about as
responsible, too. What a fallen world we do business in!
I am glad this issue is being settled in the courts rather than
Congress.
If MySpace were one of those services that promises to shield your
kid from bad things in exchange for money, a different result would
be called for.
|6.21.06 @ 12:37PM|#
So, what prevents a 19 year old man from claiming to be a 14
year old boy?
Surely he could get his "19 year old guardian" to validate his
status.
When Bill Gates mandates that all PC's ship with NetNanny, is this
an admission of liability for failing to do this sooner, or is it
an unfair monopolistic practice?
|6.21.06 @ 12:40PM|#
There is a federal law that greatly restricts the ability of Web
sites to provide any sort of services to kids under 13.
If I were setting up a Web site such as MySpace, I'd make any new
user solve a quadratic equation... that would mostly winnow out
both the underage and the dumbfucks. And any underage folks who did
pass this test would be bright enough to know better...
Hmmm... a new twist on the captcha concept, weeding out both 'bots
and idiots. I think I like it!
|6.21.06 @ 12:43PM|#
"If you interact on MySpace, you are safe, but if a
13-year-old or 14-year-old goes out in person and meets someone she
doesn't know, that is always an unsafe endeavor," Gelman said. "We
need to teach our kids to be wary of strangers."
Well. Yes. So how about knowing where the kids are and who they are
going to meet? Did the mother just have NO interaction with her
daughter? My mom knew who I was with and where I was going,
ESPECIALLY if strangers were picking me up from school. Parental
responsibility? Never even brought up in this case.
Dave W.|6.21.06 @ 12:43PM|#
When Bill Gates mandates that all PC's ship with NetNanny,
is this an admission of liability for failing to do this sooner, or
is it an unfair monopolistic practice?
No, the monopolistic practice is the problem where Bill Gates can
dictate any feature of too many personal
computers.
If the market is healthy there will always be a meaningful choice,
no matter what Bill Gates says.
That said, I can see why Bill Clinton left M$ intact. Now his wife
will be able to use the mon..., errr oligopoly proactively to do
her bidding. Whoopsy daisy!
|6.21.06 @ 12:43PM|#
AOL's current article about this lawsuit mentions a 16-year-old girl who "tricked" (their word) her parents into getting her a passport so she could fly to Jordan to meet a man she met on MySpace. I presume her parents will shortly file suit against MySpace, the airline, the federal government for allowing them to allow this, and whatever educational system turned out people so stupid they could be tricked into letting their daughter cross national boundaries to meet some dude off the Internet.
|6.21.06 @ 12:48PM|#
Damn that Bill Gates and his fleet of helicopter gunships,
dictating that people install his evil Windows products! Curse him
forever for providing a product that so much of the market finds
acceptable that I have to convert or die! Damn him for failing to
provide a Linux installation disk in every Windows package!
Crawl back under your fucking rock, Dave.
|6.21.06 @ 12:54PM|#
There is a federal law that greatly restricts the ability of
Web sites to provide any sort of services to kids under
13.
That's not entirely accurate. I think the law restricts how much
personal information can be collected on anyone under the age of
13, but that may or may not restrict any services provided.
|6.21.06 @ 12:56PM|#
The parents should be glad they're not rich. It seems the girl
has a better case against them than against Myspace. As her legal
guardians, the parents clearly failed to adopt and enforce security
measures aimed at preventing strangers from directly meeting their
under-16 daughter.
But what better way to obscure their own negligence than by blaming
someone else?
|6.21.06 @ 12:58PM|#
The way that COPPA adherence has been implemented, though, has been to effectively bar kids under 13 from gaining access to many services... unless they falsify their age.
CaptRespect|6.21.06 @ 1:10PM|#
If they first met at a mall, church, parking lot would the mall,
church or parking lot get sued?
If myspace was in debt and worthless, would the girl owe myspace
money if she won?
|6.21.06 @ 1:11PM|#
Honestly, beat it, Dave.
"dictate any feature of too many personal computers."
Just how exactly does he 'dictate' what's on my computer? You're
something else. Really.
fyodor|6.21.06 @ 1:25PM|#
This reminds me of a South Park episode where the gang visits a porn site. They keep answering all the questions they're asked with "yes" even though they're all lies, including, "Are you 18 or older?" Then they finally get to the porn site and start wretching and gagging and throwing up all over the place over what they see there!
|6.21.06 @ 1:27PM|#
Just posted the reason snippet on my MySpace bulletin, for all
my liberal friends to read.
I hope that is OK with reason. I didn't post a link, but I will
talk about reason in my next bulletin, is that going to be OK?
Dave W.|6.21.06 @ 1:32PM|#
The suggestion that Gates might put NetNanny on all the machines
did not come from me, it came from another poster. Taking Bubba's
suggestion seriously does not make me the bad guy here. If Bubba's
suggestion was sarcastic he/she should have used the "/sarc" tag. I
don't think it was sarcastic.
In other words, follow the thd, Morans. If you can't do that, at
least see that I am co-operating with T.'s magic filter. He will
probably share the filter with you so long as you are sufficiently
respectful of science and scientists.
|6.21.06 @ 1:36PM|#
If I were setting up a Web site such as MySpace, I'd make
any new user solve a quadratic equation...
But that would FOIL most American adults, as
well.
(Bad math joke of the day)
|6.21.06 @ 2:00PM|#
It's too bad the 19-year-old only allegedly raped her. If he'd
allegedly killed her, he could at least have prevented her from
reproducing more little trailer ho-tards who are just as stupid as
she is.
If you don't know, by the age of 14 -- with presumably a long
history of Internet use behind you, and after countless mass-media
stories about Internet hookups gone terribly, terribly wrong -- if
you still don't even suspect how dangerous meeting strangers from
the Internet can be by that age, you are too @#$%ing stupid to
live, and I for one will be grateful to see you removed from the
gene pool.
Jennifer|6.21.06 @ 2:01PM|#
I hope MySpace not only wins, but then turns around and reports this girl's parents to social services for criminal neglect.
|6.21.06 @ 2:07PM|#
The suggestion that Gates might put NetNanny on all the machines did not come from me, it came from another poster. Taking Bubba's suggestion seriously does not make me the bad guy here. If Bubba's suggestion was sarcastic he/she should have used the "/sarc" tag. I don't think it was sarcastic.
In other words, follow the thd, Morans.
We were responding to your dumbass comment, reproduced below, O ye
of short memory and poor spelling:
No, the monopolistic practice is the problem where Bill Gates can dictate any feature of too many personal computers.
Right back atcha, moron.
|6.21.06 @ 2:33PM|#
en, Amen.
Me and the evil Dr T were posting comments on another thread about
stuff we would do for society if we had obscene amounts of
money.
One idea you just gave me would be to set up a law firm that goes
after and sues parents who sue the government, or corporations for
stuff their dumb kid and bad parenting are responsible for.
I think that would be a major victory for justice in our
country.
|6.21.06 @ 3:23PM|#
Clean Hands
"If I were setting up a Web site such as MySpace, I'd make any new
user solve a quadratic equation... that would mostly winnow out
both the underage and the dumbfucks. And any underage folks who did
pass this test would be bright enough to know better..."
Except if they use one the zillion websites out there that will
solve it for you. Heck if you did that people would be Instant
messageing programs or webpages just to solve the equation.
|6.21.06 @ 3:30PM|#
Good point, Paul. Perhaps a word problem instead... those can be notoriously tricky for even humans to reduce to a solveable equation.
|6.21.06 @ 3:49PM|#
If the resting metabolism rate is X and the metabolism rate
during exercise is Y, and a kid eats 2000 calories per day, how
many hours will he have to exercise?
Extra credit: If he doesn't exercise, whom should he sue?
Nobody can post until they solve the problem.
|6.21.06 @ 4:31PM|#
If the resting metabolism rate is X and the metabolism rate
during exercise is Y, and a kid eats 2000 calories per day, how
many hours will he have to exercise?
t_e=(2000-24X)/(Y-X)
Assuming X and Y are in Cal./hr.
Gimme Back My Dog|6.21.06 @ 4:52PM|#
Sorry, BC and T, but you are both wrong. The correct answer is that there in no correct answer because it is not stated whether the boy needs to gain weight, lose weight or stay the same.
|6.21.06 @ 5:02PM|#
Zeroentitlement, you are darn right! 14 is old enough to know better. And no, I'm not saying she deserved what she got, but the little dumbass was negligent. I can't even fully blame her parents for her blatant stupidity - even if her parents didn't teach her anything, what about the "constant media bombardment" that faces teenagers nowadays?
|6.21.06 @ 5:13PM|#
Dude Without Dog-
Fine, Brian loses his posting privileges. :)
Seriously, good point. That was an ill-posed problem.
|6.21.06 @ 5:31PM|#
that sexual predators are on the phone and on the
roads
...neither of which is private property, right? Isn't MySpace a
private system?
C'mon, I thought y'all were supposed to be consistent in your
criticisms.
|6.21.06 @ 5:42PM|#
Perhaps I will do an internet sting! I can get on myspace, and
attempt to lure impressionable young girls to meet me, despite an
abundance of clues that doing so would not be wise. The ones who
are dumb enough to show up will be tossed into the tiger enclosure.
And (Margaret Hamilton Voice) their little dogs, and lawyers,
too.
ps- what's a quadratic? and why is it in disequilibrium? haven't
they found the market-clearing price?
|6.21.06 @ 6:00PM|#
P Brooks,
But if you threw them in a tiger enclosure, wouldn't the tigers be
sued for eating them? Or would the cage be sued for enclosing the
tigers and dumbass girls together?
Oy, this legal stuff is oh-so-confusing. I think I'll stay locked
up in my underground bunker for the rest of my life to avoid being
sued... or to avoid that scary internet which will lure me to
ill-meaning strangers.
|6.21.06 @ 6:08PM|#
"that sexual predators are on the phone and on the roads"
...neither of which is private property, right? Isn't MySpace a
private system?
C'mon, I thought y'all were supposed to be consistent in your
criticisms.
Well, I believe phone utilities are private-sector companies,
although I admit with all the regulation you could maybe argue
about whee to draw the line.
But I don't see how public vs. private ownership makes a difference
here. If a public employee -- say, the commanding officer of an Air
Force base in Texas -- put the 14-year-old girl aboard an Air Force
cargo plane (a publicly owned vehicle) and flew her off somewhere
without her parents knowledge or permission to meet an older dude
for sex, wouldn't he still be liable?
|6.21.06 @ 6:17PM|#
"But if you threw them in a tiger enclosure, wouldn't the tigers
be sued for eating them? Or would the cage be sued for enclosing
the tigers and dumbass girls together?"
There is that risk. That's why you toss their lawyers in after
them.
Hey- do lonely lawyers frequent myspace? I'm getting an idea.
|6.21.06 @ 6:19PM|#
Hey- do lonely lawyers frequent myspace? I'm getting an
idea.
Well, in my experience as posing as a 14-year-old on MySpace,
lawyers have been my most frequent customers.
|6.21.06 @ 6:23PM|#
A new article from a couple of hours ago:
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=17340&hed=MySpace+Tightens+Safety§or=Industries&subsector=EntertainmentAndMedia
This is my favorite part:
"The fact is children unattended on the Internet on chat rooms
and social networking sites are at risk," said the congressman. He
criticized the new initiatives for failing to address children who
lie about their age when they register for the site, and said he
was looking into instituting requirements for prospective members
to register using credit cards or showing proof of parental
permission.
"CHILDREN UNATTENDED"
Ok, so let's blame the initiatives, not the parents. Can we PLEASE
just kill of all the idiots?!
Jennifer|6.21.06 @ 6:25PM|#
Thoreau, you're missing the most important variable of all, since you forgot to mention if those calories are regular calories or super-powerful corn syrup calories.
Jennifer|6.21.06 @ 6:34PM|#
He criticized the new initiatives for failing to address
children who lie about their age when they register for the site,
and said he was looking into instituting requirements for
prospective members to register using credit cards or showing proof
of parental permission.
Many Americans these days teeter on the edge of economic ruin from
a massive, unmanageable personal debt trap they can't get out of.
For the individuals involved, this can be catastrophic. There's
even the chance that these massive levels of debt may prove
devastating to the country's economy as a whole.
On an unrelated topic, let's make America better by requiring 13-
and 14-year-olds to get credit cards before they can visit popular
Internet sites.
|6.21.06 @ 6:35PM|#
"...in my experience as posing as a 14-year-old on MySpace,
lawyers have been my most frequent customers."
Have you been posing as a fourteen year old girl? or boy? No
matter; so long as we can keep the tigers fat and happy.
And speaking of mission creep: have you been getting any nibbles(!)
from the direction of Capitol Hill? Would you be averse to posing
as a Congessional Page?
|6.21.06 @ 6:42PM|#
I try to keep my MySpace gender neutral: where they ask for
"sex" I simply put "yes, please." I find I attract more of the
creeps that way.
I'll make sure to post some particularly Capitol-Hill appropriate
bait next time.
|6.21.06 @ 6:43PM|#
Who was it (Lieberman?) who was saying in Congessional hearings
that the RIAA should be allowed to perform seek-and-destroy
missions over the internet to disable computers used for illegal
downloading?
Why not the same treatment for inappropriate cyber-bonding? I see
mission creep everywhere I look.
|6.21.06 @ 7:23PM|#
The ones who are dumb enough to show up will be tossed into
the tiger enclosure.
Meh, I hope those poor tigers enjoy the taste of fruit-flavored lip
gloss, Jessica
Simpson lickable perfume, Slim-Fast shakes, and teen boy
jizz.
|6.21.06 @ 7:59PM|#
Okay, zero, on that note, I'm officially feeling nauseous. And, in case you can't tell, I have a pretty strong stomach. (It's because of all of the HFCS I consume, doncha know?)
Dave W.|6.21.06 @ 8:34PM|#
Dunno -- Dave?
No MySpace. I always thougt of that as more of a Fyodor
thing.
You can download my records from:
www.farceswannamo.com
This weekend I added one click whole-album downloading. Also put up
2000's Mess Of Pottage ep, for those looking to go further back in
my catalog. No HFCS, but the song "Buildings That Obviously Used To
Be Banks" is pretty whiny.
|6.21.06 @ 11:50PM|#
If I were setting up a Web site such as MySpace, I'd make
any new user solve a quadratic equation... that would mostly winnow
out both the underage and the dumbfucks.
Unfortunately, that demographic covers about 95% of MySpace
users.
Dave W.|6.22.06 @ 5:25AM|#
http://www.1728.com/quadratc.htm
I am not sure the Clean Hands test would winnow as well as ya
think.
|6.22.06 @ 6:56AM|#
Bill Gates won't be dictating anything as he has left Microsoft so he could give away more of his money like a good Democrat.
|6.22.06 @ 8:38AM|#
As long as Clean Hands never stated it was a quadratic equation,
the people trying to pass would need to know it was even called a
quadratic equation to even find that think. The fact that one could
identify a quadratic equation and know its name is enough points in
my book that you're not a complete moron*.
*I would guess about 90% of MySpace users don't even know what a
quadratci equation is. probably about 20% of the general
population.
Spy Versus Spy|6.22.06 @ 8:42AM|#
As long as Clean Hands never stated it was a quadratic
equation, the people trying to pass would need to know it was even
called a quadratic equation to even find that think.
But of course whatever kind of equation you used, some bright kid
somewhere would crack it and set up a site even more userfriendly
and tailored than the one I linked. Them kids gots the Itrawebs, ya
know!
|6.22.06 @ 8:43AM|#
As long as Clean Hands never stated it was a quadratic equation,
the people trying to pass would need to know it was even called a
quadratic equation to even find that think. The fact that one could
identify a quadratic equation and know its name is enough points in
my book that you're not a complete moron*.
*I would guess about 90% of MySpace users don't even know what a
quadratic equation is. I'd guess about 80% of the general
population don't either.
Dave W.|6.22.06 @ 8:52AM|#
*I would guess about 90% of MySpace users don't even know
what a quadratic equation is. I'd guess about 80% of the general
population don't either.
But what percentage could outGOOGLE us grownups, Mo? That is the
relevant inquiry. the old wisdom is obsolete. Hail new puritan.
Cook one. Maelstrom. Righteous mealstrom.
Dave W.|6.22.06 @ 8:54AM|#
"mealstrom" should either be --maelstrom-- or --mealstorm--. I can't remember. My record player has been broken since 1997.
|6.23.06 @ 2:48AM|#
Where does assumption of risk come into play? Surely, the sexual
assault on a child is a heinous crime that should be punished in
the worst possible way. That being said, who bears the blame? The
state? The accused? The victim? Their parents? Or the web site that
facilitated the communication?
Blaming Myspace.com as the sole responsible party for the crime
violates most common held bounds of reason. As Libertarians aren't
we supposed to believe in individual responsibility, if not from
the minor from the parents?
This is certainly a tragic case, and there have been other similar
cases, all of which defy logic. A stranger pulls up in a car
offering candy and an innocent child gets into the car with them
because they enjoy candy... We are not to blame the child, or the
manufacturer of the automobile, or the manufacturer of the candy,
but the parents for not preparing their child for the real world.
Except, in such cases, the parents are beyond criticism because
their child was a victim! A victim of their own lack of education
or oversight!
Harsh words, certainly, that does not make them less true.
|6.27.06 @ 3:19AM|#
people that created myspace are pedo
that is the reason why they created it becuase they know kids would
come to there site and post pics of them
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