Posted on 01/06/2006 4:54:22 AM PST by beaversmom
about like the whoever it was that sued McD's for getting fat
The plaintiff, George Gillespie of Medina County, Ohio, is suing America Online for allegedly failing to do anything about the abuse he endured in the chat room, and the two chat room participants who allegedly caused him emotional distress by teasing him. Gillespie v. America Online, No. 05CIV1255 (Medina Co., Ohio, Ct. C.P.).
Internet For Dummies alert!
Heh-heh! FLAME THE NOOB!!!!
You're finding all sorts of good stuff this morning, BM. Walgreens, Spanish-speaking, this. I miss any?
If he thought that the teasing from two people was humiliating, he has opened a whole new can of worms for himself now.
From what I see of this, he deserves any additional humiliation he receives.
Also, wannabe freepers be warned: Freeping is a full contact sport here....no blood, no foul.
Marteen's practice has just expanded. He is now representing all of those flamed on FR such that they become emotionally distressed....
...and just yesterday, another lawsuit has emerged challenging bloggers this time from a former Clinton staffer: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1552346/posts
It seems that legal pressures are being brought to bear on internet freedoms...
TORT REFORM NOW! ! !
My tag line says it all..........
I try--what can I say?!? :)
Up until about 18 months ago, I was an AOL political chatroom moderator.
(insert various appalled comments here)
Some of the behavior in the chatrooms was, to put it mildly, appalling. Shortly before all moderators were put out to pasture, AOL "dumbed down" the standards in the chat to an "everything goes" policy. Short of sexually explicit words and obvious personal threats you could say anything you wanted. AOL's philosophy was "individuals are responsible for their own chat" and were expected to use the Ignore tool, etc. Nobody did, of course.
I'm surprised this lawsuit didn't happen sooner. Things got uglier than you would believe and make both FR AND DU (not that I'm putting them in the same class) look like a ladies' Bible retreat.
There are better cases out there than the one posted, of that I'm sure. I should know, I was the victim of one myself.
Oh, I have since done the Donald to AOL. "You're FIRED!"
Ahhhh, poor baby.
Marteen is representing 95% of all his online friends from himself?? WOW!!
Go Marteen!!!!!! :-)
It's the American Way. Let no deed go unlitigated.
Yeah, but the plaintiff has to prove damage before AOL alleged liabilities matter, nicht wahr?
Coupled with the factor of anonymity -- he's just a name on a website -- it will be hard to prove that he was in any way damaged. So the chilling effect this would have on free speech is far too costly for the minimal "benefit" it would demonstrate.
This guy is a bigtime loser. And I'd assume this is a simple extortion suit, except that it's so insane, he'll just end up wasting his time. What a panzy loser.
It happened on another internet forum I frequent - a forum for the discussion of Gibson Les Paul guitars. Someone sued both the site and some posters over comments made in the "Off Topic" area. The site responded by charging posters for the "privilege" of posting in the off-topic area. What a pain in the ass for everyone involved.
What a sissy. He needs to get a girlfriend and get out of the house.
>Up until about 18 months ago, I was an AOL political chatroom moderator.<
Ye gods! You poor dear!
Why those chatrooms are divided by "conservative" and "liberal" is beyond me. The looney leftists are allowed, if not encouraged, to disrupt the right-leaning discussions ad nauseum.
Liberals are the obvious champions of diversity, and of tolerance.
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