On 2/21/07, Ronn! Blankenship <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > At 10:17 PM Wednesday 2/21/2007, Gary Nunn wrote: > > >Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime. > > > Arguably it may be in response to such events as those described in > the following article from CNN today: > > <quote> > > Ryan Patrick Halligan was bullied for months online. Classmates sent > the 13-year-old boy instant messages calling him gay. He was > threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly by so-called cyberbullies. > > In 2003, Ryan killed himself. > > </quote> > > Full article at > <http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/02/21/cyberbullying.ap/index.html>.
I hate to sound insensitive, but this is one of the stupidest things I think I've read in a few days. A) There's a real failure to do root cause analysis by these parents involved. B) There's a real failure to focus on pro-active *parent* education on this there "intarweb". First of all, bullying is bullying is bullying and stopping "insulting instant messages" isn't going to stop bullying, it's just going to cause amazing enforcement issues. Second of all, the parents should be informed that their kids bring this stuff on themselves. If a kid is worried about "cyberbullying" (which is a term I hope to never use or see again, but figure it'll stick unfortunately), the parents should realize that there are plugs to be killed. Myspace and Instant Messenger applications are *opt-in*. Shut it down, close it out, start a different account, find a better Instant Messenger that allows you to screen who messages you (Jabber servers require explicit permissions), whatever... Honestly, why do people chase these sort of scapegoats? -- --Max Battcher-- http://www.worldmaker.net/ All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income. --Samuel Butler _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
