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Yale Students' Lawsuit Unmasks Anonymous Trolls

Posted by timothy on from the hate-is-such-an-ugly-word dept.

palegray.net writes "Two female Yale law school students have used the courts to ascertain the identities of otherwise anonymous posters to an Internet forum, with the intent of prosecuting them for hateful remarks left on the boards. At a minimum, the posters' future legal careers are certainly jeopardized by these events. While I'm not certainly not supporting or encouraging hateful speech online, these controversial actions hold potentially far-reaching consequences for Internet privacy policy and free speech." According to the linked Wired Law article, "The women themselves have gone silent, and their lawyers — two of whom are now themselves being sued — are not talking to the press."

8 of 668 comments (clear)

  1. womens' rights more important by nickhart · · Score: 1, Troll

    This sort of "speech" should not be tolerated anywhere. Womens' rights and their safety is far more important than the "right" for misogynists to remain anonymous. Allowing them to remain anonymous is a tacit acceptance of allowing hateful speech and the fostering of anti-women attitudes (at the school and in society as a whole). The concrete harm done to these women (and women in general) trumps the abstract "harm" to the troglodytes who posted the messages.

    1. Re:womens' rights more important by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Fuck you. If there's any truth to all the noises you people make about women being equal, just as capable, whatever, then they don't need special treatment and rules to protect them, they need to stop playing the victim card, and you need to shut the fuck up.

      If they do need the rules, then they obviously aren't up to the task of being out in the big bad world with the rest of the assholes, their claims are full of shit, we'll treat them like the victims they are, and you need to shut the fuck up.

      Posted anonymous just to piss you off that I can.

  2. I think not. by snarfies · · Score: 0, Troll

    So these women are complaining that they lost employment because somebody named "HitlerHitlerHitler" said they had herpes?

    1) Who the hell are these employers, and does ANYONE work for them? Would anyone want to?
    2) I wouldn't hire these women on the basis that they are throwing hissy-fits over meaningless posts on the interwebs. If they're gonna sue over that, they'll sue over any and every little IRL slight, real or imagined.

  3. Slashdot vs. the world by damn_registrars · · Score: 0, Troll

    Has anyone else been perusing these postings hoping for something meaningful to come from an AC here?

    And of course, as usual, I'm still waiting. Just an observation, that's all...

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
  4. Re:The posters deserve to be unmasked by jellomizer · · Score: 0, Troll

    All of the above is evil south of the Maxendixen(sp?) line.

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    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  5. about those posters... by Sebastopol · · Score: 0, Troll

    No one has commented that the posters were made by other Yale students, and, well, shouldn't we expect members of the highest institutions to be a bit more mature and a lot less mysogynistic? They posted some pretty rough stuff, doesn't that kind of speech belong to the lowest strata of society and not in Yale?

    Oh wait, Bush went to Yale, along with the most powerful men in American history.

    So much for my assumptions of Yale accepting the cream of the crop in both their academic performance and adherence to fundamental human decency.

    I'm so naive.

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    https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
  6. Re:The posters deserve to be unmasked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Offence is one thing but comments like "I think I will sodomize her. Repeatedly" are in a different league.

    You're right, it's hilarious.

  7. Appeal to Emotion rejected. by FatSean · · Score: 0, Troll

    I've been told repeatedly online that my children should have to hang out with convicted child molesters because I feel that the molesters should be kept in jail, or allowed to live a free life after servicing time, but not be subjected the weird purgatory we have now with zones they can live in and the requirement to inform neighbors that they were convicted.

    So gee...maybe you should get over yourself emo! For a redneck you sure are pretty PC.

    --
    Blar.