Has the government in the US gone nuts?:

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Poke! .. poke! ..  poke! ... is THAT annoying?

To quote Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone:

"Come and get me!"

Haha!  Poke ya here.. poke ya there...

...is that annoying?   :laughing:

The instances of persons "annoying " others on line are probably so massive, prosecuters would be severly bogged down if they tried to bring them all to trial, or even to investigate them.  On the other hand, "selective enforcement" (against political enemies, or persons you dislike, for example) could be a major problem, just like the selective enforcement of the antisodemy laws many states had before the Supreme Court recently struck them down.  This is one more example of political correctness assaulting the First Amendment.

What an optimist he is  

Next time you're found, with your chin on the ground
There a lot to be learned, so look around

Just what makes that little old ant
Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant, can’t
Move a rubber tree plant

But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes
He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time you're gettin’ low
’stead of lettin’ go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another rubber tree plant

When troubles call, and your back’s to the wall
There a lot to be learned, that wall could fall

Once there was a silly old ram
Thought he’d punch a hole in a dam
No one could make that ram, scram
He kept buttin’ that dam

’cause he had high hopes, he had high hopes
He had high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time you're feelin’ bad
’stead of feelin’ sad
Just remember that ram
Oops there goes a billion kilowatt dam

All problems just a toy balloon
They’ll be bursted soon
They’re just bound to go pop
Oops there goes another problem kerplop

the apple pie song?!  8)

i went to boarding school where inflicting apple pie beds on unsuspecting pupils in the dormitories caused great amusement

i read about the google case yesterday

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on bbc world service radio this morning the reporter said other search engines such as alta vista had already voluntarily handed over their search records to `the authorities`!!

p.s. : for UKers - there's a documentary about google on BBC2 - friday 20th jan, 19,00 hours.

...As Google grows, however, there are concerns on the horizon. Some are worried that it collects too much information about what people are looking for and poses a threat to privacy, while others claim that internet fraud could threaten Google's profits.

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Quote:


Well, hold on a second...

It is illegal to some degree to harass people.  Telephone harassment (e.g., crank calling) is already illegal.  To be honest I am not sure that people should regard the Internet as a safe haven simply because regulating what you can do on it attracts all the "free speech" reactionaries.  (i.e., people think porn should be allowed unrestricted on the net, etc.)

Case in point, though:  look at AFTI (the newsgroup alt.fan.teen.idols) where we have a resident troll we refer to as "He Who Must Not Be Named" - simply because he cannot pick a name for himself.  Those that are familiar, look at the things he posts - that definitely borders on wanton.

That's just one example.  Kids in school are often bullied online at home when their tormentors have all their other avenues of torture exhausted. 

So the question becomes "what to do about it".  You can report them to their ISP, but if you leave it solely in the ISP's hands nothing will get done because ISP's don't want to lose a customer and a steady stream of subscription fees. 

So I have to ask those who oppose prosecution, what's left?

Mediajock,

There's a vast difference between 'annoying' someone and 'serious harassment'.

If an American sets up a web site to lampoon the Bush Government...  it could be deemed as 'annoying Bush'.  This is an extremely dangerous precedent IMO.

There are already laws that cover Libel. These new laws seriously threaten the concept of 'freedom of speech' particularly in a country that strongly extols the value of 'freedom'.

In regards to the search engine records, your explanation is seriously flawed. The privacy of individuals is paramount and no government should have the right to determine what interests people.

If I want to read about terrorism or porn or anything else, I've every right to do so without fear of being targeted by a paranoid and sinister big brother government.   

BTW, I wonder if US citizens are aware of how 'free' they are perceived to be by the rest of the world.
The 'World Press Freedom Rankings' list the USA as number 31 in the world. Thats a long way from the top.

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The USA gets a better score on this site though:

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My country is no better, perhaps we should attempt to emulate Finland.