5 ms·

Trolls should go to jail, says Arizona, and I agree

7 points by MRonney 15y ago

_delirium 15y ago
> Also, the entire bill being proposed in Arizona isn’t even new legislation; it’s just a simple edit to law already on the books that changes the words “a telephone” to “any electronic or digital device.” There's a discussion here about why that change is considerably more problematic than just a bureaucratic technological update (which the law's proponents really are arguing, though it's not clear if this article is arguing it entirely seriously): http://volokh.com/2012/03/31/a-crime-to-use-any-electronic-or-digital-device-and-use-any-obscene-lewd-or-profane-language-with-intent-to-offend/ http://volokh.com/2012/03/31/a-crime-to-use-any-electronic-o...
stfu 15y ago
Smart move Venturebeat. Posting a troll commentary on a troll law. But obvious trolling is obvious. But the condescending "let me school the interwebs" tone in the footnotes somewhat gave it away.
chc 15y ago
I normally like Jolie's articles, but it doesn't seem like this article was thought through very well at all. It pooh-poohs the First Amendment angle — y'know, the thing that a journalist like her depends on for their livelihood — by pointing out that owners of websites have a right to censor visitors. That's true, but it has nothing to do with the case at hand — this law applies whether or not the website is your own, as long as Arizona feels like it has jurisdiction (and in practice, what government doesn't believe it has jurisdiction over the Internet?).
- chc 15y ago
  Weird, it looks like somebody came through and downvoted all the comments on this story but didn't leave one of their own. I guess haters are, indeed, gonna hate.
DontGiveAShit 15y ago
What if I told you this post annoys me and I view it as trollish? Do you agree that you should take it down since you have offended me? Really though, who are you to tell me that you are not annoying me. This article and post are pure horse shit and you are the scum of the earth for posting it on HN. If it wasn't for people like you HN would be a better more troll free place. Your move.
Produce 15y ago
There's a saying that goes "offense can only be taken." This implies both that offense can be taken as a result of anything and that it's peoples' responsibility to not be offended rather than not to offend. The fact of the matter is that we are all offensive to someone just for being who we are. This approach will have too many side effects as it attempts to create a world where nobody is offended by addressing the wrong end of the issue.

7 points by MRonney 15y ago

> Also, the entire bill being proposed in Arizona isn’t even new legislation; it’s just a simple edit to law already on the books that changes the words “a telephone” to “any electronic or digital device.” There's a discussion here about why that change is considerably more problematic than just a bureaucratic technological update (which the law's proponents really are arguing, though it's not clear if this article is arguing it entirely seriously): http://volokh.com/2012/03/31/a-crime-to-use-any-electronic-or-digital-device-and-use-any-obscene-lewd-or-profane-language-with-intent-to-offend/ http://volokh.com/2012/03/31/a-crime-to-use-any-electronic-o...

stfu 15y ago

Smart move Venturebeat. Posting a troll commentary on a troll law. But obvious trolling is obvious. But the condescending "let me school the interwebs" tone in the footnotes somewhat gave it away.

chc 15y ago

I normally like Jolie's articles, but it doesn't seem like this article was thought through very well at all. It pooh-poohs the First Amendment angle — y'know, the thing that a journalist like her depends on for their livelihood — by pointing out that owners of websites have a right to censor visitors. That's true, but it has nothing to do with the case at hand — this law applies whether or not the website is your own, as long as Arizona feels like it has jurisdiction (and in practice, what government doesn't believe it has jurisdiction over the Internet?).

chc 15y ago
Weird, it looks like somebody came through and downvoted all the comments on this story but didn't leave one of their own. I guess haters are, indeed, gonna hate.

DontGiveAShit 15y ago

What if I told you this post annoys me and I view it as trollish? Do you agree that you should take it down since you have offended me? Really though, who are you to tell me that you are not annoying me. This article and post are pure horse shit and you are the scum of the earth for posting it on HN. If it wasn't for people like you HN would be a better more troll free place. Your move.

Produce 15y ago

There's a saying that goes "offense can only be taken." This implies both that offense can be taken as a result of anything and that it's peoples' responsibility to not be offended rather than not to offend. The fact of the matter is that we are all offensive to someone just for being who we are. This approach will have too many side effects as it attempts to create a world where nobody is offended by addressing the wrong end of the issue.