OutThere said:
Or breed.
Someone needs to explain to the mother that the computer is not a babysitter.
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MySpace sued for $30 million
- Thread starter angelneo
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Or breed.
Someone needs to explain to the mother that the computer is not a babysitter.
YEah, let's not go after the person that did the assaulting, lets just go after the people responsible for the line of communication. 
I think this lady and her daughter should both get a caning until bloody and bruised and told "if you pull this **** again you'll get fed, feet first, slowly, to pirhannas."
God I hate people.
I think this lady and her daughter should both get a caning until bloody and bruised and told "if you pull this **** again you'll get fed, feet first, slowly, to pirhannas."
God I hate people.
I use myspace quite often and it is really good, when used correctly...
For me, 'correct' use of myspace means contacting people you already know. You shouldn't meet people through myspace, you can do that at social places or directly through other friends, the internet is not intended for this use...
Stupid woman though... If she fails, I hope myspace turn around and sue her for being such a stupid parent who has the intellectual capabilities of a garden swing...
For me, 'correct' use of myspace means contacting people you already know. You shouldn't meet people through myspace, you can do that at social places or directly through other friends, the internet is not intended for this use...
Stupid woman though... If she fails, I hope myspace turn around and sue her for being such a stupid parent who has the intellectual capabilities of a garden swing...
L
Lau
Guest
jaydub said:
Also, equally, the amount stalking parks and malls is tiny compared to the amount of kids who aren't let outside in fear of a percieved predator, in spite of the risk being tiny. I'd rather my kid went outside and got a bit of exercise and play, than be confined inside.
Again, education of what to do in such a situation, whether it be online or in the real world is the most important thing.
Definitely right. It's funny, the fear that makes parents keep their kids indoors is also leading to another unfortunate problem: childhood obesity. My wife is a 2nd grade teacher and she has a few students who are pushing 150lb. These kids are 7 years old!Lau said:
L
Lau
Guest
jaydub said:
Absolutely. Keeping the kids inside in order to protect them from a miniscule chance of being abducted, yet making them very much at risk of the killer obesity. The maths don't add up, innit.
Lau said:Absolutely. Keeping the kids inside in order to protect them from a miniscule chance of being abducted, yet making them very much at risk of the killer obesity. The maths don't add up, innit.
Parents who don't think can't teach their children to think, so they keep them inside, pull them from public school to home school them. Eventually, they turn out to be extremely isolated and confused, unable to deal with the real world on any level. They also will probably have 10 children of their own.
Onizuka said:
It sounds like he was 19. Now what isn't mentioned is if any sexual activity was consensual but in the UK we'd probably turn a blind eye to a 19 year old and a 15 year old as long as they both wanted to do it.
As for where child molesters hang out - you'll find them living in the homes of the children they molest. Stangers who abuse children remain rare irrespective of all the tabloid name calling we see in the UK, the real problem are the step parents and overly familiar uncles and family friends. We should start going after the real perverts rather than demonising internet sites.
Killyp said:
I agree completely! I think that should be written on the front page of MySpace.
Also, I was thinking - "social networking" probably does more harm than good in the long run. MySpace is good for promoting your band... that's about it really...
I think kids are the one to watch out for - they think MySpace is cool in the same way that teenagers think beer is cool - you're not allowed it, so it's a bit of a taboo... (I could get into a debate about legalisation of alcohol and how france/italy etc. have lower rates of alcoholism but here is not the time or place!)
Adam Curry says instead of excluding children, parents should allow their children onto myspace - and then get an account themselves!! If MySpace fills up with 30-50 y/o's, it will quickly become "uncool" and then people will just use it for what Killyp, and myself use it for - keeping in contact with people you know in real life
Arghhhh!
And this lawsuit - everyone's already said what I'm thinking, it's totally frivulous - and for goodness sake, the mother didn't HAVE to provide her child with a computer/internet access and then not monitor her....
You better believe when I have kids, I'm not gonna be trawling through their emails, but I will be making sure they know what's what...
Another thought - perhaps what's needed is MySpace Jr...? Where you HAVE to be under 15 to register, you have to have a parental account, and then the parent would have to approve messages, or could at least see who/what their child has been talking to and about....
There is this issue of proving your age though...
Ditto.michaelrjohnson said:
While places like MySpace create the perfect stomping grounds for pedophiles, its the job of the parent to actually play a part in the kids life and to be proactive in preventing these things.
One more thought, MySpace web pages are probably the most sickening examples of web pages I've ever seen. Ewwww. If you don't know HTML, don't try.
someguy said:I would gain sleep. It would mean my girlfriend wouldn't keep me up all night asking questions about HTML, trying to make her myspace look cooler. She's a dork.
Ditto, I feel like my wife's myspace has become my responsibility for maintaining. She constantly asks me how to do things. I respond to her that if I wanted to have a myspace account, I'd have my own. Then she gets pissed and I end up having to sleep on the couch. (J/K, though I do give her somecrap when she asks me for help on myspace).
Killyp said:
As an owner of a garden swing I take offence at your comment - concider yourself sued
Lau said:
It seems like a lot of parents are either disillusioned to the fact that their kids will ever be the victim of a predator or that they are going to be stalked by everyone they come in contact with. Parents need to find a balance. As busy as their lives get it's their responsibility to teach their kids safety precautions and their responsibility to keep tabs on what their kids are doing. The tools for doing all this are out there and pretty easily accessible so they can't use the excuse of being too busy, oblivious or scared to use them.
<rant>
Myspace is a bad parent's dream. If you raise a child stupid enough to get online, meet a 45 year old man, send him seductive pictures, then agree to meet him in a secluded area (not this story here but I'm sure this has happened) then you get raped by him...you blame myspace? Not the child for being so blatantly stupid? Not the parent for not caring enough to take a moment out of their lives to see what their child is doing? Not the parent for raising and not educating a child to the point that she is so dumb as to not be able to function in the real world?
I am not saying that the girl was asking to be raped or anything like that, only that she and her parents brought the situation upon themselves. I love how myspace is accused of only being concerned about the money, yet the family brings a 30 million dollar lawsuit? huh? If thats not about the money then what is?
Myspace is a huge blinking target that allows moronic teens and neglegent greedy parents to lay blame anywhere but their own shoulders.
I am 16 and I have a myspace, yet I haven't been raped yet...why? Well, maybe because I am a guy and it is probably less likely that a creepy old man will contact me, but anyway, the point is that I know how to be safe on the internet. Myspace is a valuble social tool for me and my friends, and I would be pissed if some greedy mother and her mentally challenged daughter ruined it all. Be safe! The world is dangerous! Do not expect to be protected at all times! Watch your own back...that way you can blame nobody but yourself when something bad happens.
Interestingly enough, there was rape before myspace, and people tend to forget that. Do we sue the bar where the rypanol(sp?) is slipped into the drink? No. Do we sue the streetlight company when a person gets grabbed in a dark alleyway? No. the phone company when a meeting is arranged over the phone? Of course not! This is ridiculous!
</rant>
Myspace is a bad parent's dream. If you raise a child stupid enough to get online, meet a 45 year old man, send him seductive pictures, then agree to meet him in a secluded area (not this story here but I'm sure this has happened) then you get raped by him...you blame myspace? Not the child for being so blatantly stupid? Not the parent for not caring enough to take a moment out of their lives to see what their child is doing? Not the parent for raising and not educating a child to the point that she is so dumb as to not be able to function in the real world?
I am not saying that the girl was asking to be raped or anything like that, only that she and her parents brought the situation upon themselves. I love how myspace is accused of only being concerned about the money, yet the family brings a 30 million dollar lawsuit? huh? If thats not about the money then what is?
Myspace is a huge blinking target that allows moronic teens and neglegent greedy parents to lay blame anywhere but their own shoulders.
I am 16 and I have a myspace, yet I haven't been raped yet...why? Well, maybe because I am a guy and it is probably less likely that a creepy old man will contact me, but anyway, the point is that I know how to be safe on the internet. Myspace is a valuble social tool for me and my friends, and I would be pissed if some greedy mother and her mentally challenged daughter ruined it all. Be safe! The world is dangerous! Do not expect to be protected at all times! Watch your own back...that way you can blame nobody but yourself when something bad happens.
Interestingly enough, there was rape before myspace, and people tend to forget that. Do we sue the bar where the rypanol(sp?) is slipped into the drink? No. Do we sue the streetlight company when a person gets grabbed in a dark alleyway? No. the phone company when a meeting is arranged over the phone? Of course not! This is ridiculous!
</rant>
Fell, your points are all good.
The reason why these people are suing MySpace for money is that there's really no way to sue them for anything else. It's a central tenet of the US justice system that punitive damages are a way to force people and companies to modify their behavior, so as to avoid more monetary damages in the future.
Do the founders of MySpace deserve to go to jail over this? Almost certainly not. Should MySpace be shut down as a result of something like this? Maybe, but it is true that most MySpace users have NOT ever run into trouble because of the site. So what's left? Sue them for a massive amount of damages (which I'm sure is at least partly the idea of the plaintiffs' attorney, who stands to make a lot of money from a victory or a settlement).
If the terms of the lawsuit were "victory = MySpace has to clean up their act", I'd be more on board with this whole lawsuit idea. In this case, though, it's rather clear that these folks are just interested in suing as many deep pockets as they can. MySpace should prevail here, but they also need to recognize that they REALLY need to clean up their act and do whatever they can to prevent child molesters and pedophiles from using their site as a feeding ground.
The reason why these people are suing MySpace for money is that there's really no way to sue them for anything else. It's a central tenet of the US justice system that punitive damages are a way to force people and companies to modify their behavior, so as to avoid more monetary damages in the future.
Do the founders of MySpace deserve to go to jail over this? Almost certainly not. Should MySpace be shut down as a result of something like this? Maybe, but it is true that most MySpace users have NOT ever run into trouble because of the site. So what's left? Sue them for a massive amount of damages (which I'm sure is at least partly the idea of the plaintiffs' attorney, who stands to make a lot of money from a victory or a settlement).
If the terms of the lawsuit were "victory = MySpace has to clean up their act", I'd be more on board with this whole lawsuit idea. In this case, though, it's rather clear that these folks are just interested in suing as many deep pockets as they can. MySpace should prevail here, but they also need to recognize that they REALLY need to clean up their act and do whatever they can to prevent child molesters and pedophiles from using their site as a feeding ground.
It's good to see that so many people are thinking.
Locally, people are having meetings every week to talk about MySpace and protecting children. I suspect they're not talking about anything that matters, but hiding children from the world instead.
Another point of interest is that a local parent and businessperson has created a website with both advice and software. One of the pieces of software they're pushing hard is a keystroke logger. It's not free but they're seriously advocating its use as a safety tool. As cynical as I am, I'd think that he's hoping to receive information from every computer where it's installed. He's not mentioned any functionality like that, but one fear can so easily be turned into an opportunity, can't it?
Locally, people are having meetings every week to talk about MySpace and protecting children. I suspect they're not talking about anything that matters, but hiding children from the world instead.
Another point of interest is that a local parent and businessperson has created a website with both advice and software. One of the pieces of software they're pushing hard is a keystroke logger. It's not free but they're seriously advocating its use as a safety tool. As cynical as I am, I'd think that he's hoping to receive information from every computer where it's installed. He's not mentioned any functionality like that, but one fear can so easily be turned into an opportunity, can't it?
bousozoku said:
Amen. Parents IMO are not wanting to take responsibility for raising their children. Easier to sue in the US courts, than to do the right thing.
So glad that I have no children. For they might hate me. For with the internet I would spend every waking moment trying to find out what crap they were getting into.