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I’ve not been following this story very closely, but the efforts the state is making seem way overboard for what this woman is being accused of doing. I think

I’ve not been following this story very closely, but the efforts the state is making seem way overboard for what this woman is being accused of doing. I think banning someone from the internet is rapidly approaching “cruel and unusual”. I don’t think people understand how critical web access is to typical life in the US these days. I don’t mean casual surfing either. News, jobs, contact information.

tclancy 6y ago
It seems clearly vindictive since I am not sure how you could practically enforce that or argue it doesn't infringe on someone's rights. Plenty of places expect you to pay exclusively via the Internet nowadays, especially government services.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  This is, unfortunately, an issue where the legal system has been very slow at catching up to reality. Complete Internet bans are clearly unconstitutional after Packingham v. North Carolina, but that was only 3 years ago and in practice I'm not sure the ruling has actually filtered down.
  - throwawaysea 6y ago
    I agree with the spirit of that ruling, that free speech equally requires the ability to receive information. But if we think that’s true, shouldn’t the same spirit apply to bans from social media platforms? Even if the law does not require the same of private companies, surely the same principles would apply?
    - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
      It's not as simple as applying the same standard to private actors, because you should definitely have a strong and unreviewable right to ban sex offenders from your Minecraft server. Obviously there's a big difference between your personal server and a global platform, but the details and implications of that difference are complex debate I don't really want to get into here.
rjsw 6y ago
For someone working in IT, trying to ban them from the internet could count as "restraint of trade".
pueblito 6y ago
It is intentionally overboard, they are attempting to make an example out of her. Fortunately(?) they seem to have picked the wrong woman to mess with
- jimbob45 6y ago
  “The agency said the message was sent from an IP address that matched Jones' address, according to the warrant.” Seems like she did the crime here and deserves the full ban.
  - iimblack 6y ago
    They’re not even trying to charge her for that anymore. Maybe she didn’t do the crime.

tclancy 6y ago

It seems clearly vindictive since I am not sure how you could practically enforce that or argue it doesn't infringe on someone's rights. Plenty of places expect you to pay exclusively via the Internet nowadays, especially government services.

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
This is, unfortunately, an issue where the legal system has been very slow at catching up to reality. Complete Internet bans are clearly unconstitutional after Packingham v. North Carolina, but that was only 3 years ago and in practice I'm not sure the ruling has actually filtered down.
- throwawaysea 6y ago
  I agree with the spirit of that ruling, that free speech equally requires the ability to receive information. But if we think that’s true, shouldn’t the same spirit apply to bans from social media platforms? Even if the law does not require the same of private companies, surely the same principles would apply?
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    It's not as simple as applying the same standard to private actors, because you should definitely have a strong and unreviewable right to ban sex offenders from your Minecraft server. Obviously there's a big difference between your personal server and a global platform, but the details and implications of that difference are complex debate I don't really want to get into here.

rjsw 6y ago

For someone working in IT, trying to ban them from the internet could count as "restraint of trade".

pueblito 6y ago

It is intentionally overboard, they are attempting to make an example out of her. Fortunately(?) they seem to have picked the wrong woman to mess with

jimbob45 6y ago
“The agency said the message was sent from an IP address that matched Jones' address, according to the warrant.” Seems like she did the crime here and deserves the full ban.
- iimblack 6y ago
  They’re not even trying to charge her for that anymore. Maybe she didn’t do the crime.