Debate Mom sues myspace for $30 million

Fair enough. I'm bitter towards people who dont take responsability for anything. Maybe she's dumb, maybe she's not. I will go on believing she is until she does something to prove otherwise. At least we're agreed that she took the wrong action in suing myspace.

 

Yeah.. she should is at fault, somewhat. But its hard to admit that your at fault.

 

Oi oi, Spit for spat, this is heating up.

Since we were little kids what was something our parents have told us time and again about strangers?

"Don't take the fuggin' candy."

That's not to say only ignore strangers with Candy. People we don't know, offering something that we want, whether it be a material posession or something akin to companionship, should be regarded warily with the same attitude as the creepy old man on the corner passing out lollies to all the kindergarteners.

If you don't know the person (and believe me, a few E-mails on the internet does not qualify as "knowing" someone) don't put yourself in a situation where you could find yourself compromised. End of story.

IN THE SAME BREATH it is also up to the parents to ensure that thier kids are staying away from Grandpa with the laced Lollies. It doesn't matter whether or not this idiot parent knew her kid was on MySpace, nor does it matter whether or not her kid planned on seeing this person behind her back- She is the Mother. She is responsible for her child and all of her child's actions. That's what parenting is. Your child is YOUR responsibility, and no matter what happens to him or her, YOU'RE the one responsible, no if's, and's or but's. That's what it means to be a mother or a father. There is no "somewhat" about it, Yukiko, my dear.

This woman's "course of action" in response to her own negligence on behalf of her child is to sue My Space, a separate third party, and try to place responsibility of what happened on THIER shoulders. She's not a bad mother, My Space is at fault because they don't make people provide proof of identity when they register.

That's where she is wrong.

She is still the girl's legal guardian- SHE is responsible for her child and everything she does. This passing the blame bullsh*t is something she's trying to cash out on. When your dog digs up your neighbor's garden YOU take responsibility for it, not the makers of the fence that the pup dug under, yes? While children are not pets by any stretch of the imagination, the same holds true to them.

If you're not up to doing whatever it takes to protect your kid from his or herself, or from outside influences, or for taking responsibility for your child's actions when they do something that slips by you, then put the kid up for adoption. The state sure as hell will find someone who is.

~W

 

Like alot of people, I have a myspace and know one thing about it.. There are tons of pervs on it. I live near a navy base, so all I ever get is messages from squids like, "Hey babe, wanna meet up?" Or "Oh u hott. Nice *** boo." And I'm like, Hello? Too young for you Seaman. Sorry to say, maybe myspace is sorta a trap at times but some people should just have some common sense. Putting things like "*****" On your profile usually catches wandering eyes and yeah. We know what that goes.

 

What the heck I shall be on the lawsuit side for the kick of it. Plus it wouldn’t be a debate otherwise.

First off I must say comparing “dog digging under a neighbor’s fence” to this is like comparing a Bugatti Type 41 Royale Sports Coupe to my Ford Taurus. For those who don’t understand these terms the Bugatti is well over 15 million dollars where my car is less then $3,000.

Sorry Wert but I think comparing a dog digging a hole to sexual assault is far fetched. The indication is there but it is missing the severity of it.

First off: What is sexual assault?

Conduct of a sexual or indecent nature toward another person that is accompanied by actual or threatened physical force or that induces fear, shame, or mental suffering.

The girl is a victim.

Victim: One who is harmed by or made to suffer from an act, circumstance, agency, or condition.

Being a victim takes a life time to heal. There are times when a certain act can cause a relapse. The mother needs to show her daughter that what happened to her was wrong. It cannot be ignored. Years of therapy alone may not amount to 30 million but with the pain she face it will.

How much would you pay to not be victim of a sexual assault? 30 million to me is a little light. Like I said being a victim takes a life time to heal. The girl may never trust anyone again.

30 million is a small amount for many things. Giving the money away is ideal but chances are it won’t happen. “If” the child and mother do win the case then it is paying for many things.

How much would you pay for security? How much not to be afraid anymore? How much not to be hurt? How much not to cry? How much to trust? How much for a simple touch? How much to be able to love? How much to heal? How much to not wish for death? How much too even forget what happened would you pay? How much not to be traumatized for life?

Let's look at what happened in a way dealing with the blaime. For example a teen has an adult buy liquor the teen drinks it with buddies and one teen drinks to much and gets hurt or could even die. Death might be a little severe but to a victim they sometimes ask for it or wish for it or even act upon it. The adult will pay for giving them the liquor just as Webspace should pay for giving these sexual predators a chance to create a victim.

This girl and people like her will never be the same.

Like I said her mother is helping her by asking for justice. Myspace has only “Tips for Parents" page and users must be 14 or older. The Web site does nothing to verify the age of the user, such as requiring a driver's license or credit card number.

Myspace has ignored previous “sexual assaults” like a 22-year-old Wisconsin man charged with six counts of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a 27-year-old Connecticut man accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

The 13 year old goes against their own policy. It is obvious to foul them.

Also “Attorneys general from five states, including Texas, have asked MySpace.com to provide more security, the lawsuit said. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sent a letter to the MySpace.com chief executive officer May 22, asking him to require users to verify their age and identity with a credit card or verified e-mail account.”

Myspace has yet to do anything about it.

So you can honestly say that, "MySpace is more concerned about making money than protecting children online," as Adam Loewy has said. For those who didn’t read the article he is the person representing the girl and her mother.

Another thing I will touch on saying that the mother is “stupid.”

Calling ANYONE stupid is a horrible thing to do. You are cutting a person down and in the process making you appear horrible. Maybe values need to be checked here.

The mothers “course of action" is to show the daughter what justice is and to help her heal. No one knows what someone else is doing 24/7. The daughter could have easily have lied to the mother about who she was talking too like a friend from school.

Who values their privacy? Would anyone like their parents to pick up the phone to see who they are talking too? No teenager would understand this. They would hate their parents for violating their trust which opens up another can of emotional trauma.

As you all should know I don't agree with some of it BUT something should be done to protect the youths. And Myspace is what is "cool" right now. They pulled out the C.D. which contained bad words from songs on for less.

Used dictionary.com and the news submitted for this debate.

 

You know what.. it's almost as blockheaded than this suit to think that if the mother "tried to instill internet morals and values" that this kind of crap wouldn't happen. That is easily one of the most moronic things I've heard, this stupid case set aside. People buy too easily into the "If you just tell your children about this stuff, everything will be hunky-dory!"... you don't think that some murderers knew that "Gee, killing someone is WRONG and BAD STUFF COULD HAPPEN?". It's instinct and passion and the human nature to make a **** up like we all do. The lawsuit is her moronic and dumbass mother's fault, yes. This didn't deserve to happen to her, no. But the girl was, indeed, acting like a ****ing moron. It's common-****ing-sense to not go out and meet someone you just met on the ****ing internet, and on MySpace of all ****ing places.

This whole thing is just absolutely stupid. Everything about this.

"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it."

Here's to one step closer to wanting to Nazify the internet.

Hear, hear!

 

I don't see how myspace is responsible for their(the mother, child, and guy) actions... isn't the criminal here the guy? Myspace was just the medium of communication. What the mother is doing is equivilant to... oh say a lady gets raped by this guy that comes to her house because she told him her address over the phone, this is about like if that lady were to sue the telephone company for allowing her to share the information. People get too friendly on the internet. We think that just because we can't see the person that we can say whatever we want to them. I imagine that myspace as a liablity(sp) clause... that whole check here if you have read our long page of legality junk... tis akin to signing a fieldtrip slip. Ergo if you check it, you are agreeing to their terms.
But minors have no legal authority, which is why you have to get a parent or guardian to sign anything. Wouldn't the same thing apply to little check boxes? I dunno.
Any one else find it kinda disturbing that parents more and more often are so eager to make a profit off of their child's misfortune? How much of that money would go to her child's benefit(like say college)?

 

Ok- #1 Not once did I ever call the mother "stupid". Negligent, Vile, Bad, Lazy, Irresponsible, spoiled and idiotic were my adjectives of choice.

#2- You misinterpreted my analogy. Whether you compare a Bugatti or a Taurus they both serve the same purpose and get you to where you want to go, the only difference is the price you have to pay to get there. When your pup makes a mistake and does something behind your back, doesn't matter what it is, you are still responsible for its actions. When your child makes a mistake and does something behind your back, doesn't matter what it is, you are still responsible for his or her actions... Not My Space.

I'm gonna stick my credibility on the line here and say there is no proper retort to this. If your kid flips and goes Columbine on his school- YOU are ultimately responsible. He is under age and legally, as well as morally, your responsibility. If your kid drinks a gallon of Bleach, god forbid, you take responsibility. You dont sue Clorox for developing lids that kids can pop open. You were negligent and allowed it to happen.

I'm sympathetic for the girl because her own youthful innocence was betrayed by some wang with a mental disorder, but her mom has nothing but my contempt. If she were to take responsibility for her actions and admit that she made a mistake by not watching over her children more closely, then I would be more inclined to be a little more caring.

What's the reoccuring theme here? Responsibility.

~W

:Edit: I'm writing this from the Atlanta Airport Terminal awaiting my flight to LAX, so I apologize if I'm a little terse.

 

Amen brother.

I've been saying this EXACT-SAME-STUFF for years now. (actually probably just 3 I dunno. xD) it's the exact same thing with parents who sue tv stations because they're showing a show they deam 'inappropriate' (anyone rememebr the FLCL case?) However, this incident did have dire consequences, so I do somewhat agree with Yukiko. She is really mad. However, that's really no excuse.

And another amen, right here.

I'd like to disagree with you for a second tho Sombra. Talking to your kids, [i[does[/i] help. Me and my mom have a very open relationship about the internet. She told me what could happen and she told me to be careful, and I ahve been careful.
but then again, i'm also a little goody good who listens to her parents. xD I can't speak for other kids, but it never hurts to just talk about it.

Otherwise I have nothing else to say about the case that hasn't already been said. I avoid Myspace for a reason. >>

 

Money alone wont stop sexual predators....and I'm sorry, but how is 30 million (or more) going to fix her daughter? It wont. NOTHING will. Nothing will ever take away the horror and pain of that experience. What can she do? For starters, she could try to prevent this from happening to another child by starting and/or funding organizations devoted to putting predators away.

No one is questioning whether or not the daughter is a victim or not. It's quite apparent that she is. The biggest issue here seems to be the mother and what she is doing about this. Does she deserve Justice for what has happened? Yes. Is she going about it the right way? I really don't believe she is.

hmm no they really don't do they. You have a very good point there, good for catching that one. OH and since we're on that, don't forget the other millions of websites out there who don't verify their users aswell. We should sue and ban them all aswell. oops...that pretty much gets rid of the entire internet. Do you not realize how many websites are out there who don't care about people, they just care about money? Once again, nothing new and surprising to this world.

Come on, we're talking about the internet here not happyland.

It really doesn't matter if a teenager doesn't want their parents to nose in on them. The parents have every right to. Why? Again because they are legally responsible for their children and are obligated to prevent stuff like THIS from happening. Kids can hate their parents all they want for monitoring them, they still live under their parents roof.

Edit: I would MUCH rather have my parents shove their nose in my privacy than end up getting sexually assaulted.

Really, how hard is it to join an organization specifically devoted to stopping sexual predators. Suing and/or shutting down one website organization will accomplish nothing. Sexual predators have been around long before the time of the internet.

 

So, basically, you're saying that if your mother never told you that, that you wouldn't have the common sense to realize "Jeez, one of these guys could be BAD. WOW~!"

 

i could have sworn it was his daughter that was murdered.

 

Nope. Adam Walsh, one of the most famous children abductees ever.

~W

 

And are you saying that if your parents had never told you " don't get in a car with strangers" you would never have done it when you were a child, because children have so much 'common sense'?
I'm just saying it doesn't hurt and it shows to me that she cares. Everytime she tells me I always go "i know, I know" but at least I know she cares enough to take the time to warn me and what not.
And sometimes a person's judgement is clouded. it has nothing to do with common sense. My parents have warned me about certain friends I have, and I never listened to them-because I had difficulties making friends, so any friends i made i was gonaa keep, but after a while I understood what they were saying and wisened up. It's just at times in your life, especially at adolescence, you don't think about things. And some kids don't even understand the internet because they've never been educated in the matter. I mostly got educated about the internet at school, but it was my mom who had an open relationship with me about it and made me feel comfortable about talking to people online without feeling I had to hide the fact i was doing it, like most kids think they have to. My mom's even said "if you ever want to meet anyone, you come to me about and we'll go together" which, once again, just made me more comfortable. I was planning to take someone if i ever went to meet anyone in the first place, but the fact that she's okay with it just made me feel better about it.

if this girl's mother had perhaps said the same things to her daughter and had a decent relationship about the internet like I do with my mom, she might've been there when she went to meet that man, and could've prevented it.

 

Whats next people sueing telephone companies for people they don't know calling there house and talking to their children. The internet is a way of communication, just like a phone or mail, but with the internet it opens you up to more people. Myspace is just a provider for communication.. nobody is telling you to use it or forcing you to. It is your choice. If the parents really cared so much to sue for 30 Million than where was this great parenting before?
I just don't understand this. Myspace is only a door to opening you up to many people that you may or maynot want to talk to you or view your information. Maybe things should be thought ovdr more carfully before making a web profile.

If the parents cared so much about internet safty and such than they would relize myspace is only one of the countless ways to release information about yourself on the internet. So sueing one company because your child chose to use a service provided by them and willingly gavr out information about thereself to others really doesn't help the cause too much.

the bottom line is... its an easy way to get rich. They are in it for the money.. thats that.

 

See, this is my thought as well. If you are under a certain age, you don't even need a myspace. What buisness do these 14 year olds have on a site for dating/serious relationships/etc? I think it's all common sense. Parents should put locks on some of these things so their younger children can't give out information to internet predators. But most kids know more about the computer then their parents now adays anyway.

It's silly really but if you have to walk in and check every once in a while, so be it. It's not a site's fault for things that occur off the site. If I met up with one of you, and was raped/killed, would we blame Cloud? Hell no. It's not his fault, nor his problem. Though sad, things like that connot be blamed on whoever the parents want to blame.

 

Although I agree with your general idea that it is indeed not MySpace's fault, I never really viewed MySpace as just a place for dating/serious relationships... Hell, I only joined to keep in touch with a few friends that don't have time to hop on AIM or MSN anymore BECAUSE THEY DON'T LOVE ME!!! (emoemoemoemoemoemu)... seriously though, people go there for all kinds of stupid ****. But ah well, that's neither here nor there.

 

Lol, you are the emoemoemoemoemoemu!

I don't know what to say to that. I honestly go because I'm a big picture taker. I like showing off, and such, so I think of it like deviant art at times. On deviant art, I display all my art. On myspace, I display all my pictures. Meh, I even keep a blog there...Longest lasting blog ever. I have like 120 entries over a year or so. =) Love it.