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Star Wars Kid Cuts a Deal With His Tormentors
An anonymous reader writes "Ghyslain Raza, who gained instant online fame as the 'Star Wars Kid' settled this week with the families of the three classmates who posted his two minute Lucasfilm screen test on the Internet. No details were released but the suit sought damages of $351,000. A victory for the victims of cyber-bullying, or missed chance by thin-skinned Ghyslain to cash-in as the next William 'She Bangs' Hung?"
It may not be always obvious what the right thing is to do when you're in a situation like Ghyslain's. How was he to know that the reaction to how he and his parents handled his situation would be overall frowned upon. He had a chance to make something that was embarrasing work out really well for him. But nobody likes a whiner. I only hope that other kids can learn from his situation and make the most of their own problems.
But first get a settlement.
Insert witty sig here.
That was so long ago. That kid must be like 30 by now.
Furthermore, I doubt that it will prevent so-called cyberbullying; it will just remind the more intelligent bullies to wreak their mischief anonymously.
When I think of all the bullies I had to deal with growing up, back in the pre-Web days, and the revenge I could have gotten by spoofing them on a website, well, I guess I'm glad I didn't have that opportunity to do something so easy that would haunt me the rest of my life. It would have been fun, though.
it's = "it is"; its = possessive. E.g., it's flapping its wings.
That is the main difrence the kid had this put on him not buy his own choice
I still think got lemons bla bla you know
Did this kid?
Hey, I'm just your average shit and piss factory.
He had been known for his Slash-dotting...they'd cheer "Slashdot Kid Slashdot Kid Slashdot Kid" and every hot chick in school would be all over him like the geek that he is!
I'm not a troll, but I play one on Slashdot.
When you hear what his life was like after the fact. I doubt some of the more mal-adjusted /.ers would have a different reaction to being harassed 24/7 for something you didn't really want anyone to see. Let's not forget he's a kid; a nerdy, overweight kid (Much like many of us were). It's hard to live with that kind of notoriety so soon in life.
For the record:
He had to drop out of school due to harassment.
He still gets approached by people on the streets about it.
His parents had to hire a private tutor for him.
He ended up on anti-depression medication.
It's not funny, don't laugh.
"Anybody who tells me I can't use a program because it's not open source, go suck on rms. I'm not interested." (LT 2004)
The guys who stole (er, "misappropriated" this video and stuck it on the net for the sole purpose of humiliating this poor kid deserve to be punished, IMO, and here in the civilized world the way that people are punished for stuff like this is money; it's not a perfect system, but it's the best we've come up with so far.
They're just lucky they're not in the US -- the MPAA would have come down on them like the wrath of God for messing with this kid's copyright on his original work.
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
Having been a rather akward teenager myself, I can understand why he decided to file suit against them. I don't know anything about this kid or how he feels about himself or even what he went through on an every day basis before this occured but I remember being in high school and feeling invisible to the rest of the world. Suddenly, one day to have myself posted all over the internet and being the subject of laughter, at the age of 15, would have been psychologically devestating to me. It is easy, for those of us who are adults, to be critical of his choices but we weren't the ones treated this way. We never walked in his shoes and never suffered the embarassment that he suffered.
On the outside, since we have no emotional attachment to the situation, it's easy for us to say "I'd ride that money train all the way to the bank" but that fails to give the situation its true weight. Being 15 is tough enough for most kids without having themeselves publically humilitated by their peers just for a few laughs. I'm not a huge fan of law suits in general, but in this instance I am. The action of these kids was not criminal but it was a terrible thing to do and there needs to be consequences.
He never really had a chance. Note to parents: Start with Bill or George or Steve when naming a son.
[Comment deleted to prevent offending /.'ers]
When you feel alienated from school and everyone laughs at you, you DON'T CHOOSE to drop out. You HAVE TO.
It seems to me that you really don't understand what free will is. Psychological pressure is a determinating factor, EVEN in murder trials. Can you say "temporal insanity"?
Of course, you haven't been ridiculized in public or bullied so what the heck do you know.
What the hell? Why are so many of the comments saying things like this? He somehow deserves what happened to him because he wasn't smart enough, wasn't confident enough, didn't take advantage, whatever. Has everyone on this website forgotten what it's like to be a socially inept, outcast 15-year-old? Sure, by and large we've grown out of it, but a lot of us would not have appreciated having something we consider completely humiliating broadcast to the entire world.
You "can't blame someone else because of your personal problems," but what if the problems in question (humiliation in front of a worldwide audience, constant attention from the media and from strangers, drastically increased bullying in school when he was already not the most popular kid around) are in fact a direct result of someone else's actions? Can't you blame them for those actions, especially when they were done maliciously?
Everyone seems to be talking about fame as though it's this wonderful gift. Here's a clue: Not everyone wants it. And not everyone should be forced to want it, just because it's your opinion that he should have seized the opportunity and made a few bucks. Maybe he prefers the lack of fame over any potential profit he could have gotten from it. I know I would hate to be famous. That's not a sour grapes thing, I do have an ego and I would like to be well-respected within my own field, but real fame? Have you seen what the world does to celebrities? It's disgusting, and I'm glad that there's no realistic way that would happen to me.
Should the kid have filed a lawsuit? Maybe not. Personally I would lean towards no. But there's a big gap between "a lawsuit is inappropriate here" and "What's the matter with this kid, he deserves what he got, why is this bullied, insecure 15-year-old acting so insecure and immature? He should just get over it." No doubt he will get over it, but give him a few years -- it took a lot of us that long even without a major roadblock like this.
[END RANT]
I am the man with no sig!
They sued for $351,000 in damages.
But he didn't get $351,000, because they reached a settlement. That implies that he took less than the $351,000 he was suing for. So here's all we can deduce based on logic: He got somewhere between $0 and $350,999.
Oh wait, I'm on Slashdot, and that requires me to end all of my posts with an unintentionally ironic derogatory statement about people who post on Slashdot.
"bullying the bully doesn't change it"
That is absolutly incorrect. It is well know to those of us that beat the crap out of a bully or two in our youth, that a baseball bat to the head will change things very quickly. If you avoid arrest, the bully very quickly learns that you are not a "fun" target anymore.
7F23: "When Flanders Failed"
http://www.snpp.com/episodes/7F23.html
I am not a crackpot.
Comments like yours remind me why I hate internet forums.
First of all, you took what he said out of content. even though he said what you posted. you completely overlooked the main focus of his post, and chose to dwell only what you took issue with - not because it was offensive, but because it hit a nerve with some unresolved issues that you have.
Those kids were just being kids, everyone in that situation would have done the same thing. I would say Raza should have thought how video taping this ridiculous video AND LEAVING IT IN THE SCHOOL TV STUDIO would affect his life. I mean, did he expect no one to see it there?
That would be the point. And guess what? Like it or not, it's true. Young boys have been doing things of this nature for years. Even kids who aren't bullies play pranks on each other sometimes. Not because they're evil - because they're kids. Truth be told, you don't know what the relationship was between the kids. That's today's ultra-sensitive society - everyone's having fun, until someone gets mad, tells their parents, and someone's getting sued. Half of the time the kids intentions weren't even how they tried to depict them as.
But that's not why I hate the internet. I can tolerate views that differ from mine with no problem. What I can't stand is the attitude that's reflected in the comment that you made:
Yeah, I know your type well, if you're what I think you are. How's the gas-pumping business, ya fucking jock?
I take online abuse on a regular basis from people like you, and I wasn't even a jock. Not because I'm rude, because people like you who hold these types of things in. They walk around fine, but the moment they get into a situtation of power, they're hell to deal with. Support forums are full of them all over the internet. You see, after years of being bullied, you have your safe haven where you can say whatever you like to whoever you like, and they just have to take it. Whether their power is in being a moderator, or in having a bunch of friends on the board, they frequently abuse it. They walk around all the time with a chip on their shoulder, making curt and semi-sarcastic, hoping someone says something back so they can let them have it or boot them from a room.
That "Internet John Wayne" crap isn't any less offensive or abusive than the kids that posted a silly dance tape on the internet. At least the kid recorded it himself.
I surely can, but I don't understand what crazy time has to do with the subject.
(Note for the humor impaired: I know the OP meant temporary insanity)
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Worst. Sig. Evah.
...it doesn't really seem to me that those involved wanted to create this. For one they didn't create that, he did that of his own free will. The first guy found it, second guy digitized it, it got spread around a little on e-mail. Third guy says he didn't know the two others, just saw a funny clip passed around and made a website which got insanely popular. No, it wasn't nice. Yes, I probably would have done the same myself (and I got harassed at school so don't go all "you don't know what it's like" on me).
I mean, if these three had been working together to create this, then maybe. But this was more a case of pebbles starting an avalanche. Now I'm sorry the avalanche landed on Mr. Raza, but well... I don't think you should be punished for more than you intended to do, or reasonably could expect of consequences. It would be quite another thing if they were harassing him right up to the point where he freaked. But they dldn't, in fact they were as powerless to stop it themselves. Yes, someone found a funny tape and showed it to a buddy or two. That's not a $350000 offense.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
> In case you didn't laugh the first time....
You may have a perfectly-working sense of humour. The video is not funny, it's 100% stupid. Some kid jumping around like a Methed Manatee. Big deal.
What's REALLY funny is his claim in court that "he let himself go and no longer lifted weights to keep fit." That fat fuck wasn't "fit" when it was recorded, so unless he had his stomach stapled between then and when he found out it was on the Internet, he's a fat fucking LIAR.
(Full disclosure: I am also a fat fuck and partial idiot; the difference is that I don't claim otherwise.)
But at least you have a charming personality!
If you don't think puns and knock-knock jokes are suffering then you must be the bastard that keeps telling those damned jokes.
Shoot Pixels, Not People!