Sunday, June 17, 2007
Forum trolls beware
Here's some bad news for folks who think it's cool to make anonymous threats via the Internet:
"It bills itself as the world's 'most prestigious college discussion board,' giving a glimpse into law school admissions policies, post-graduate social networking and the hiring practices of major law firms.
"But the AudoAdmit site, widely used by law students for information on schools and firms, is also known as a venue for racist and sexist remarks and career-damaging rumors.
"Now it's at the heart of a defamation lawsuit that legal experts say could test the anonymity of the Internet.
"After facing lewd comments and threats by posters, two women at Yale Law School filed a suit on June 8 in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Connecticut, that includes subpoenas for 28 anonymous users of the site, which has generated more than 7 million posts since 2004.
"According to court documents, a user on the site named 'STANFORDtroll' began a thread in 2005 seeking to warn Yale students about one of the women in the suit, entitled 'Stupid Bitch to Enter Yale Law.' Another threatened to rape and sodomize her, the documents said."
"It bills itself as the world's 'most prestigious college discussion board,' giving a glimpse into law school admissions policies, post-graduate social networking and the hiring practices of major law firms.
"But the AudoAdmit site, widely used by law students for information on schools and firms, is also known as a venue for racist and sexist remarks and career-damaging rumors.
"Now it's at the heart of a defamation lawsuit that legal experts say could test the anonymity of the Internet.
"After facing lewd comments and threats by posters, two women at Yale Law School filed a suit on June 8 in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Connecticut, that includes subpoenas for 28 anonymous users of the site, which has generated more than 7 million posts since 2004.
"According to court documents, a user on the site named 'STANFORDtroll' began a thread in 2005 seeking to warn Yale students about one of the women in the suit, entitled 'Stupid Bitch to Enter Yale Law.' Another threatened to rape and sodomize her, the documents said."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Sunday, June 17, 2007 
