Hundreds who posted views on sex assault trial targeted in Tarrant suit

reply to post by Byrd


I did wonder though, in your experienced opinion, would the example I provided above (thread about the Octuplets mom) be a potential problem if she happened to stumble across it and get pissed off that so many people were saying horrible things about her?

Could a judge force you (well, ATS) to hand over our identities so she could sue us for a thread like that.

I think me and some others are wondering, even if we post within T&C, are we putting ourselves at risk for voicing our opinions on news stories?

Originally posted by greeneyedleo
reply to post by Byrd

 

I did wonder though, in your experienced opinion, would the example I provided above (thread about the Octuplets mom) be a potential problem if she happened to stumble across it and get pissed off that so many people were saying horrible things about her?

Hard to say, seriously.

Could a judge force you (well, ATS) to hand over our identities so she could sue us for a thread like that.

Only after they'd gone through our lawyers and through several court battles... and you do know that all we have on you is your IP and whatever info you posted.

And databases have been known to have "accidents." Remember George Bush's "Email accident" of a year or so ago when all sorts of emails and records got "accidentally" deleted?

I think me and some others are wondering, even if we post within T&C, are we putting ourselves at risk for voicing our opinions on news stories?

There is a difference between opinion and libel. You (or I) can say that we feel her choice was unwise, that we suspect her resources may not match the needs of her children, that her parents sound angry, that she appears to be somewhat disconnected.

That's fine.

If you state that she was fertilized by large nonhuman mammals and that the kids are eating garbage and committing illegal acts with dogs while she shoots coc aine in Vegas with Brad Pitt and performs explicitly forbidden act on elephants, then, yeah, you're at risk.

But one of the mods would have slapped that down with a "manners" skittle before it got too far.

Originally posted by DaRAGE
Hah this case is ridiculous. Getting sued for writing stuff on the internet... Gimme a break.

ISP's are going to protect thier customers, Web site owners are going to protect thier customers, G W Bush is going to protect his cronies. To say something online about someone is damn right freedom of speech and could be jsut as well said outloud and in public.

Are they going to get these people all around the world? What if there were 1000 posts by 1000 different people? How about 10000 posts? This is ridiculous.

Ridiculous? hmmm.. so was the war on terror 18 yrs ago; might want to check out the Patriot Act..

reply to post by Byrd


Thanks Byrd for letting us know that things are going on...

Personally I feel its the websites legal issue. I know that you might have signed something that states YOU are responsible for your posts but that is why they have moderators that peruse this stuff and make sure no one is abusing the system as well as breaking the law.

The following people are currently monitoring THIS forum for issues, and also peruse the ANONYMOUS posts before inclusion.

"Skyfloating, lombozo, watch_the_rocks, TheBorg, khunmoon, gallopinghordes, JacKatMtn, MemoryShock, seagull, semperfortis, maria_stardust, Hal9000, Badge01, and kosmicjack"

Quite the list.

Also, there is an ALERT button that is used to make the ATS staff aware of anything that should be addressed. They recently issued a warning about "Hate Speech", so I'm sure they're watching and have their language filters working full time. As for libel and slander, I'm sure that if claims were being made on ATS that were similar to what "TOOCHAOS4U" stated were being said, ATS mods would block it or do something.

I would hope that should I make some type of statement that someone found not in compliance with the T&C of ATS that I would have that post removed. If I had more than a few complaints about my post I would expect that ATS mods would block ALL my posts until they were perused and given the thumbs up.

As to the question that was asked about posting within the T&C and still having to worry, yes, you should be worried that they can find you for only your opinion. No company/website is going to fight and win against hiding data that the government wants in these times of TERRORISM. That one word allows them to do whatever they want. I'm surprised that I'd have to say that on the ATS board.

Summary.... Your being monitored and they have access to your IP. This enables them to find your area, then they can get other identifying characteristics from you computer that can locate you within a given block in the city or town you live. If they really wanted to get you, they could take that IP address that they have and send tons of child porn or something else illegal to your hard drive and you wouldn't even know it. Unless you have lots of security programs on you system, but even those have been known to sell out to NSA to allow for back-door entry.
Source1
Source2

If you have no opinion against the government and believe that ATS is full of conspiracy nuts, you should be OK on this board and shouldn't have to worry about someone using your words against you.

Watch yourself...

Rgds






[edit on 9-2-2009 by AllTiedTogether]

I posted a new thread late last night and it probably didn't catch the eye of anyone here. It DIRECTLY relates to your web anonimity. If you are concerned about such please check out:

AboveTopSecret.com - Thread about Anonimity

reply to post by eldard


I believe the US has already filed bankruptcy about 9 times since the civil war.

Originally posted by loam
I think you all are confused about a few things...

reply to post by interested-one

 

Originally posted by interested-one
It's called freedom of speech, theres not a DAMN thing that can be done to citizens who exercise this freedom. The judge has obviously overstepped his authority. I think that everyone should understand that you cannot be tried in a court of law for expressing your opinions regardless of how tasteless or bizarre they might be.

God Bless America!

reply to post by bigfoot1212

 

Originally posted by bigfoot1212
greedy lawyers, politicians and stupid judges who will not uphold our constitution are one of the biggest problems in this used to be great country. as for sex offenders put them all on an island and nuke them. only good sex offender i know of is when my gf attacks me in the middle of the night- maybe i can sue her too now. but when they read thsi now i'll probably have 4 lawsuits against me because obviously my 1st amendment right no longer exists

This is a CIVIL lawsuit. Not a criminal one.

The Constitution has nothing to do with this.

reply to post by TrueAmerican

 

I don't think there is anything new about this.

Think of it this way....

If someone printed up a bunch of pamphlets in your neighborhood unjustifiably accusing you, your spouse and children of being drug addicted satanists who have contracted some lethal disease that can be spread by casual contact, etc, etc... Do you think the law requires you to grin and bare it?

Defamation law goes waaaaay back-- long before even the Constitution. There really is nothing new here.

The risk of civil action has always been the case for ATS.


[edit on 8-2-2009 by loam]

Driving down the road puts you in a position to be sued, so what. This kind of crap doesn't make it past the initial fact finding stage typically. A good honest judge wouldn't even try it. In addition it costs approximately 20,000 dollars to follow through AND defend yourself. The cost involved in defending yourself is the killer but whoever is sueing you can expend even more. Been there done that.

Originally posted by AllTiedTogether
The owners probably can't comment in this thread due to they can't comment on a case being investigated. All seriousness aside... I think this will happen on ATS in the very near future. Hopefully we'll catch wind of it.

I'm not sure how they can get you for saying something that is taken by all as opinion. Isn't that part of the T&C???

ATS T&C

3b) DMCA Enforcement: By posting on these domains, you grant the agents and officers of AboveTopSecret.com and its parent organization(s) the right to seek enforcement and legal remedy for any and all discovered usage violations falling under the DMCA and the Creative Commons content deed.

ATS T&C absolving themselves...

6a) Disclosure: The Above Network, LLC also reserves the right to disclose personal information when required by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to conform to the law or comply with a legal process served on The Above Network, LLC, protect and defend the rights or property of the The Above Network, LLC domains, or visitors to these domains, identify persons who may be violating the law, the legal notice, or the rights of third parties, and cooperate with the investigations of purported unlawful activities.

and

5) Personal Responsibilities: At all times, you remain solely responsible for anything found within your posts and agree to indemnify and hold The Above Network, LLC, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of any material you submit, post to or transmit through the message board, your use of the message board, your connection to the message board, your violation of these terms and conditions, or your violation of the rights of another.

So if anyone questions the opinion that you've made on ATS then ATS will recover costs from you for doing the dirty work. You are not entitled to your opinion or views any longer. And they have your IP so they know where you live. So much for freedom of expression, speech and any other freedom.... their taking it all away in the name of a fake terrorists and their need for security.

I could be wrong... IMHO

Since this is a civil case you can indeed comment on it, I believe if it was a criminal case then there could be issues if information was leaked out that could be considered damaging to the case or something along those lines.

Could that violate a privacy policy agreed to with the website in question if the names are turned over?

And thanx to the original poster. That is near my hometown and it's hard to follow up on news their when your job sucks like mine and has you on the move.

Originally posted by b0n3zassassin
Could that violate a privacy policy agreed to with the website in question if the names are turned over?

And thanx to the original poster. That is near my hometown and it's hard to follow up on news their when your job sucks like mine and has you on the move.

They get a subpoena for the information. It doesn't matter what the people agreed to privately at this point. Again, see my post three up or visit my thread on web anonimity here:


Web Anonimity Thread

Originally posted by GTORick

Originally posted by b0n3zassassin
Could that violate a privacy policy agreed to with the website in question if the names are turned over?

And thanx to the original poster. That is near my hometown and it's hard to follow up on news their when your job sucks like mine and has you on the move.

They get a subpoena for the information. It doesn't matter what the people agreed to privately at this point. Again, see my post three up or visit my thread on web anonimity here:


Web Anonimity Thread

ahh, thank ya sir!