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California Family Fights For Privacy, Relief From Cyber-Harassment
theodp writes "Just days after his daughter Nikki's death in a devastating car crash, real-estate agent Christos Catsouras clicked open an e-mail that appeared to be a property listing. Onto his screen popped his daughter's bloodied face, captioned with the words 'Woohoo Daddy! Hey daddy, I'm still alive.' Now he and his wife are attempting to stop strangers from displaying the grisly images of their daughter — an effort that has transformed Nikki's death into a case about privacy, cyber-harassment and image control. The images of Nikki, including one of her nearly-decapitated head drooping out the shattered car window, were taken as a routine part of a fatal accident response and went viral after being leaked by two CHP dispatchers. 'Putting these photos on the Internet,' says the family's attorney, 'was akin to placing them in every mailbox in the world.'"
The difference is, dumb cunt, that you go to those sites voluntarily. It's about as far opposite as it is possible to go to having the picture of your dying daughter emailed to you.
I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
Seriously. Kids start doing things you don't want to "let" them do as soon as they can walk. Sometimes sooner.
No parent should ever be subjected to what these guys have gone through, regardless of the stupid choices their kid makes.
And where the fuck are all the people who whined here on /. last week about poor Saddam being "tortured" by forcing him to watch a cartoon?
Free speech != speech without consequences. Any real Libertarian understands this.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
hay these family should lighten up ok? after all the people who emailed them their daughter's bloody death photos were only in it for the LULZ. amirite? amirite? the dead pools closed! amirite? yeah...............
i like my freedom over easy with a side of home fries
Here Here!. The anonymity of the internet creates a barrier between you and the consequences of your actions but it doesn't absolve you of those consequences. Personally, I think the person who sent the first Email should beaten with a baseball bat until their DNA is too scrambled to be processed. You have got to be a complete sociopath to think that that kind of behavior is acceptable under any circumstances.
It's called being a parent. If she hangs out with people that do drugs, don't let her hang out with them. If she continues, ground her. A license to drive isn't a license to steel a car, and you should know that. If you don't want to be a parent, you deserve to be presented with the pictures of what happens to your kid as a result.
What this whole situation shows is that "intellectual property" is still a good idea, if legislators hadn't completely distorted it. The pictures exploit the public image of Nikki Catsouras, they should be the property of her family. Aside from use in police investigations, the CHP has no right in delivering those photographs to anyone.
They exploit the public image of a corpse. Why does that need protection? No the court got this right. This is within the CHP's right to release. What about all the damage she caused. The public has a right to the information through FOIA. When you do stupid shit, don't expect to censor it from public view. Had she lived, then privacy would be deserved until she could go to a fair trial...
Now the dispatchers should be disciplined, while the CHP has the right, the employees shouldn't act above their authority.