[SmithL]

Ahhhh, poor baby.

[snarks_when_bored]

Gillespie is a moron. Oops!

[popdonnelly]

It's the American Way. Let no deed go unlitigated.

[IronJack]

In that a website is a public forum, the teasing this guy got would be the equivalent of him being teased in the public square, something that may have embarrassed him, but well within the rights of the offenders.

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.

[billybudd]

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.

[satchmodog9]

What a sissy. He needs to get a girlfriend and get out of the house.

[L,TOWM]

You have probably started a classic thread here. One that will go to thousands of posts with some of the most hilarious "insults" bandied back and forth among FRiends for months to come.

Nice job, dipst!&k...

[Gritty]

Does this mean we can't pick on MurryMom anymore?

[TChris]

IMO, AOL has precisely the same responsibility for checking the authenticity of statements made by chat room posters as the manufacturers of printing presses have for checking the authenticity of statements made on the pages of the NYT.

...or the manufacturers of PA systems have for checking the veracity of statements made by the speakers whose voice they amplify.

...or the manufacturers of the lenses on the HD television cameras of CBS have for verifying the truth of political statements made by David Letterman.

[martin_fierro]

No amateurs, please. Send FReepmail if you want on/off ISHP list
The List of Ping Lists

[TheForceOfOne]

Blame the gun store owners when guns are used in crimes.

Blame the phone company when your ex calls you up and curses you out.

Blame McDonald's when you spill your coffee in your lap or for eating five value meals a day until you reached obesity.


Did someone tie this guy to a chair with toothpicks holding his eyes open while someone constantly refreshed the screen?

I see lawsuits against the maker of Dell computers, Microsoft for making Windows XP, the electric company, the ISP, the maker of the chair he sat on, etc..

[Looking4Truth]

Dumb*ss could always find a new 'playground'.

Freakin' moron just blew his cover anyway.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

is suing America Online for allegedly failing to do anything about the abuse he endured in the chat room

Horse puckey.
There can be no abuse or humiliation without the plaintiff's willing participation.
Close the AIM window or turn off the PC. Case dismissed.

[Lazamataz]

According to court documents, the chat room participants "acted in an outrageous manner, which they knew or should have known would cause serious emotional distress to the plaintiff ... The Defendants' conduct was so extreme and contemptible as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency."

Should this suit succeed, Clown Posse might have some new -- legal-like -- communications. :o)

[VRWCmember]

Who is he going to sue when everybody makes fun of him in open court and Leno and Letterman use him as the butt of their jokes for a couple of weeks?

[doug from upland]

According to Marlowe, Gillespie alleged in his suit that Marlowe's harassment went beyond the Internet, and that Marlowe traveled all the way to Ohio from Alabama to file a change-of-address form for Gillespie just to disrupt his mail service.

========================================================================

If that is true, he should have criminal charges filed against the guy.

[Bear_Slayer]

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.

It was later released that George Gillespie is in third grade. The two others were asked to stay in during recess

[Toddsterpatriot]

That question is being played out in what some lawyers claim is a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in Ohio, where a man claims he was humiliated online in an Internet chat room, and has filed a lawsuit over the incident.

I thought it was gonna be a guy from Indiana suing Free Republic.

[freedumb2003]

This "guy" would never survive on a Creo/Evo, Civil War, etc. thread here.

The topic discussions are filler between the humiliations! ;)

[Republican Wildcat]

He was being teased? Then leave the chatroom. A lot easier to do that than it was in middle school with bullies, I'm sure. Just close the window. This is ridiculous.

Those of us discussing him and this article are probably going to end up becoming defendants in this lawsuit. LOL.