Teen Sues MySpace Over Sexual Assault 979
kaufmanmoore writes "A 14-year old is suing myspace for $30 million claiming the site failed to protect her from a 19-year old she met through the site. The suit claims that MySpace doesn't verify a user's identity or age and doesn't do enough to protect users."
Don't jump to conclusions (Score:2, Informative)
However, just like The Mcdonald's coffee case [wikipedia.org] where people screamed and shouted over the millions of dollars awarded to a woman who spilled hot coffee on herself, there is a lot more at issue here. In the coffee case, if you have read the facts of the case, you will probably agree that the award is not unreasonable. Does myspace have a history of sexual predators meeting others online? I think so. Does this make them culpable? Not necessarily. But just remember, it is not like this is a once-in-a-blue moon case that has never happened before on MySpace, and it is not like myspace is a happy, fun loving site full of real people (which is the image they like to project.)
Re:How can they? (Score:5, Informative)
Verifying age solely on-line is darn near impossible
A possible, but expensive, way MySpace could reliably verify age of new users is to open staffed registration centers (could be small staffed kiosks in malls, superstores, etc) throughout the U.S. and other various countries, in which new users would appear in person with a government photo ID / birth certificate, etc in hand along with a parent / guardian, if under the age of majority (gets a bit tricky, since "majority" can defined as something other than 18 in some jurisdictions; age 21 often works when in doubt)...
Bottom line is that verifying age solely on-line is a near impossibility - to do so reliably requires some form of off-line verification procedure, which will require much resources and money to do
A simplier answer is for parents to take responsibility and be more aware of what their children do; educate kids so they make smarter, more informed choices about how they conduct themselves.
Ron
Teen *didn't* sue MySpace (Score:5, Informative)
Re:How can they? (Score:5, Informative)
eID [belgium.be]. Nearly every Belgian has one.
Just pop it into your cardreader, enter your PIN-code and your age is verified.
Oh it also has digital signing and other neat gizmo's
Well they have a small paragraph in the terms... (Score:5, Informative)
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Limitation on Liability. IN NO EVENT SHALL MYSPACE.COM BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF MYSPACE.COM HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, MYSPACE.COM'S LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO MYSPACE.COM FOR THE SERVICES DURING THE TERM OF MEMBERSHIP.
Indemnity. You agree to indemnify and hold MySpace.com, its subsidiaries, and affiliates, and their respective officers, agents, partners and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the Services in violation of this Agreement and/or arising from a breach of this Agreement and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above and/or if any Content that you post on the Website or through the Services causes MySpace.com to be liable to another.
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http://www1.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=misc
Re:Teen *didn't* sue MySpace (Score:2, Informative)
Sounds like the same could be said for her mother.
/cynical
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Well they have a small paragraph in the terms.. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:The Macdonalds 3rd-degree burn case had merit. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:i'm conflicted (Score:3, Informative)
Thank you. I don't know why people seem to like myspace so much. The few sites on myspace I've ever seen are some of the ugliest, 1997 geocities-type, sites I've ever seen. What do people see in myspace?
Whore Schmore (Score:3, Informative)
Myspace is remarkably safe... (Score:3, Informative)
So, it's technically a LOT safer for your kids to be online than to be in a medium sized town in Califonia.
Re:How can they? (Score:2, Informative)
You are a sheep. (Score:3, Informative)
stupidity sometimes burns you (Score:1, Informative)
We don't live in a Disney movie. We live in a world filled with psychopaths and assholes, and if you walk around with a glazed look on your face, someone is going to take adavantage of you.
There are scary, scary people out there and my parents made sure I knew this as a VERY young child.
"do not go ANYWHERE with someone you don't know"
"always be aware of your surroundings, watch where you're going, don't stare at your feet"
"if someone wants you to get in the car with them, RUN it's better to get shot and left bleeding than taken somewhere else for god knows what to happen"
I got these lectures not because my parents wanted me to live my life in fear, but because they wanted me to know I was always in control until I gave up that control.
I did some really, really stupid things in my time, and by all rights should have wound up dead a few times, but because my parents taught me BASIC SURVIVAL skills I survived my "invincible years" and made it to my 30's.
I think more parents should take the time to tell their kids the facts about life. The TV and Gym class don't quite cut it anymore.
Re:Really? Could have fooled me (Score:3, Informative)
"In May, after a series of e-mails and phone calls, he picked her up at school, took her out to eat and to a movie, then drove her to an apartment complex parking lot in South Austin, where he sexually assaulted her, police said. He was arrested May 19."
The actual Austin police press release:
"Austin Police Department child abuse detectives have filed charges against a suspect in connection with a sexual assault of a child case.
Pete I. Solis, 19, has been charged with Sexual Assault of a Child, a second-degree felony. He is in custody.
During the investigation detectives learned the suspect made contact with the 14-year-old female victim through her online web page. They continued to communicate using email and cell phones. The victim was sexually assaulted in the suspect's vehicle in the 6800 block of West Gate Boulevard.
This case remains under investigation by APD child abuse detectives."
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen
The age of consent in Texas is 17. Notice that he is NOT being charged with Rape. "Sexual Assault of a Child" is essentially a "statutory rape" charge, which strongly implies that she DID consent. Of course, since Mr. Solis is apparently poorer than his "victim", he'll almost certainly end up in jail.
http://www.ageofconsent.com/texas.htm [ageofconsent.com]
1) the girl alone is to blame for getting raped (as is usually the argument in this kind of a situation: a lot of guys seem to be _very_ quick to join in the chorus that there must have been something the woman said, or wore, or just being at the guy's house, or just being in a park alone, or whatever, that _clearly_ absolves the guy of any fault and makes rape entirely the woman's fault.)
The issue here isn't whether or not the girl was raped. That's irrelavent. The question is whether or not MySpace was irresponsible for allowing her to communicate with someone who (may) have raped her. An analogy would be suing AT&T because she arranged the date with the guy on the telephone. Which, in fact, she did. So why isn't her mom suing AT&T? Because that is obviously ridiclous. Her lawyer hopes the novelty of the internet and MySpace will allow him to screw MySpace by manipulating a gullible judge and jury who aren't familiar with the internet (or, MUCH more likely, prodive leverage for a settlement).
And think about the rules the plaintiff wishes to implement. They want to MySpace to require age verification of all users. Assuming this works, it means minors will simply not be able to use the service anymore. So we prevent children from using the telephone because a sexual predator MIGHT contact them? And it's not like this would affect any of the OTHER free homepage providers.
The fact remains that the girl was not kidnapped, and MySpace did not aid in that kidnapping. Everything that happened (according to both parties) was consentual up until a certain point in Mr. Solis' car. Are you saying that MySpace should SOMEHOW have monitored what was going on in that car?
Fundamentally, this has nothing to do with children. An adult woman (or man) could make exactly the same claim with the same rationale, and it would be just as bogus.