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Irish Legislator Proposes Law That Would Make Annoying People Online a Crime

Posted by Soulskill on from the turn-yourselves-in-at-the-local-pub dept.

An anonymous reader sends this report from TechDirt: Is Ireland looking to pass a law that would "outlaw ebooks and jail people for annoying others?" Well, no, not really, but that's the sort of unintended consequences that follow when laws are updated for the 21st century using little more than a word swap. Ireland has had long-standing laws against harassment via snail mail, telephones and (as of 2007) SMS messages. A 2014 report by the government's somewhat troublingly-named "Internet Content Governance Advisory Group" recommended updating this section of the law to cover email, social media and other internet-related transmissions. ... The broad language -- if read literally -- could make emailing an ebook to someone a criminal offense. Works of fiction are, by definition, false. ... It's the vestigial language from previous iterations of the law -- words meant to target scam artists and aggressive telemarketers -- that is problematic. Simply appending the words "electronic communications" to an old law doesn't address the perceived problem (cyberbullying is cited in the governance group's report). It just creates new problems.

5 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. But I can still get piss drunk at the pub, right? by NotDrWho · · Score: 5, Funny

    Aye, as long as I can still get piss drunk at the pub, beat me bitch wife, and spit on an Englishman, then I'm alright with it!

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  2. He's breaking his own law by justcauseisjustthat · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's funny he's breaking his own law already!!!

  3. Re:There ought to be a law by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, there ought to be a law against adding new laws?

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  4. Re:But I can still get piss drunk at the pub, righ by antiperimetaparalogo · · Score: 1, Funny

    Aye, as long as I can still get piss drunk at the pub, beat me bitch wife, and spit on an Englishman, then I'm alright with it!

    Yes, no problem mate, just remember our (greetings from Greece fellow European) "anti-racism/discrimination" laws and make sure the "Englishman" is not some Muslim/Brown from who knows where, and he is not a homo... ah, wait, you can't spit on an Englishman.

    --
    Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!
  5. Annoying People Online by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Funny

    Annoying people online is a crime?

    Windows is so much better than Linux in every way!

    Ok, I'll go turn myself in now. ;-)

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.