GameBanshee Forums

[QUOTE=Chimaera182]"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Revealing my nerdishness. :laugh: But that's why I said it wouldn't work, anyway.[/QUOTE]

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I just didn't want to quote it like you did. But the concept is the same.

"My friend has a saying: You need a license to drive, but not to breed. It'd be nice if we could put parents through rigorous training and testing before they're allowed to have kids, but that wouldn't work even in an ideal world"

...alright Big Brother.

You can't sue MySpace! Where will the sheep go?

[QUOTE=Damuna_Nova]You can't sue MySpace! Where will the sheep go? [/QUOTE]
To Friendster?:laugh: At least Friendster is still untouched at the moment.

Anyway, I think its rather silly to sue Myspace. Its like going after the creator rather than the real culprit. Sheesh. Kind of reminds me of what that Florida based lawyer, Jack Thompson, is doing to 'help' the policeman's family by suing the game publishers (Take-Two Interactive) and the developer (Rockstar Games) of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in the Devin Moore case. When will people ever realise how futile this will be?

[QUOTE=Damuna_Nova]You can't sue MySpace! Where will the sheep go? [/QUOTE]
Well there's always Facebook, WebShots...

This is absolutely retarded. Why are parents completely unable to hold themselves accountable for stuff like this happening? Sue MySpace? Try teaching your kids not to talk to strangers or at the very least not to trust what they say. No, that takes too much damn work. Pass the blame. Judas Priest made my son blow his head off. Pass the blame. Duke Nukem and Doom made my son kill those people. Pass the blame. Christina Aguilera and Brittany Spears turned my daughter into a whore and got her pregnant at 13. Pass the blame. My daughter is an anorexic because of the Olsen twins. Pass the blame. My son killed that policeman because of Grand Theft Auto. Pass the blame.

It's times like these I miss Bill Hicks the most.

[QUOTE=TonyMontana1638]This is absolutely retarded. Why are parents completely unable to hold themselves accountable for stuff like this happening? Sue MySpace? Try teaching your kids not to talk to strangers or at the very least not to trust what they say. No, that takes too much damn work. [/QUOTE]

I do concur that sueing MySpace is moronic, and obviously there are questions to be raised about how "streetsmart" that girl was and whether or not her parents had adressed all of those important matters with her.

But... kids do have minds of their own. You can raise them with all the values and common sense behaviours that you want. This doesn't mean, however, that they won't deviate. Teens especially tend to think they are immortal and that nothing bad will happen to them, they are also likely to directly ignore parental concerns or rules. I'm not saying this is a justification for a ridiculous lawsuit, only that perhaps the girl had indeed been told about the potential dangers.
And maybe the guy was convincing???

[QUOTE=TonyMontana1638]Christina Aguilera and Brittany Spears turned my daughter into a whore and got her pregnant at 13.[/QUOTE]
Tony, its Britney Spears, not Brittany Spears. By the way, this incident really occured? When?

Oh, and about your statement, I totally agree with you, Tony. Its that never ending blame game.

[Quote=Dragon Wench]But... kids do have minds of their own. You can raise them with all the values and common sense behaviours that you want. This doesn't mean, however, that they won't deviate. Teens especially tend to think they are immortal and that nothing bad will happen to them, they are also likely to directly ignore parental concerns or rules. I'm not saying this is a justification for a ridiculous lawsuit, only that perhaps the girl had indeed been told about the potential dangers.
[/Quote]
I agree. Kids, especially teens tend to be foolhardy especially when dealing with new situations and experimenting new things. However, shouldn't they also have the common sense not to trust anyone outside their circle of friends? They also should understand the risks of meeting someone they don't know especially via online or other means.

On the whole, I am sick and tired of this blame game where no one wants to take responsibility for their actions and instead blame someone else for their mistakes. Can't they just for once admit they're wrong?

[QUOTE=DesR85]However, shouldn't they also have the common sense not to trust anyone outside their circle of friends? They also should understand the risks of meeting someone they don't know especially via online or other means.
[/QUOTE]

I'd like to hope that kids possess basic common sense. I'd also like to hope they'd have the sense to be wary in their trust. I don't know, however, if that is always the case. Indeed, I have the sneaking suspicion it might not be. Teens are very much in a transition between adulthood and childhood, it is a time when they are becoming individuals and exploring who they really are. It isn't unusual for that to process to include a direct refusal to listen to any parental concerns.
You also mention trusting outside of their own circle of friends.... Knowing somebody, even if you consider them to be part of your circle of friends is not necessarily a guarantee. I stated this here before and I will do so again, in the majority of sexual assaults, the perpetrator is *known* to the victim.

Anyway, I do agree that people need to start taking some responsibility. The mother in this case is an idiot for launching a lawsuit. It reminds me a lot of the infamous Hot Coffee Incident where some moron sued Mc Donald's (and won) because they were stupid enough to spill hot coffee on their crotch while driving.
I would hesitate to say that the mother is directly at fault for what happened, but I definitely do not think that MySpace bears culpability.

@Mah, it would definitely be interesting to hear more on that study, do keep us posted if you can.

An Update: Truth or Predictable Defense Strategy?

I just saw this:

http://www.kxxv.com/main.cfm?ID=1&NewsID=2973&Type=Full

MySpace Rape Suspect Speaks Out — (06/23/2006)
An Austin area man accused of raping a 14-year old girl he met on MySpace is now telling his side of the story.

According to 19-year old Pete Solis, he and the girl met on the web site for a month and then had consensual sex.

Solis says the girl lied about her age, never giving any indication she was 14.
I also have to wonder if there isn't an attempt at a money grab going on the part of the mother. Call me cynical, but I think there's a good chance this is the case.

Now the mother and the girl are suing MySpace for $30,000,000 saying the website does not do enough to protect kids.

The website is now putting more restrictions in place.


Obviously, this would be a logical defense strategy... I wonder if it has any truth though?
Call me cynical, but might it also be possible that this is an attempt at a money grab on the part of the mother? Pretty sick of that is the case...

[QUOTE=dragon wench]

According to 19-year old Pete Solis, he and the girl met on the web site for a month and then had consensual sex.

Solis says the girl lied about her age, never giving any indication she was 14. [/quote]

Oh well. Many people have referred to the girl's responsibility to protect herself and also to her mother's. Sauce for the goose.......?

Not to appear to flippant but I am reminded of John Junor's famous comment, on a school master accused of indecency for the third time:

I am not saying he is guilty, but would he not be better advised to find an occupation where he was less at risk of false accusation

[QUOTE=dragon wench]Call me cynical, but might it also be possible that this is an attempt at a money grab on the part of the mother? Pretty sick of that is the case...[/QUOTE]
Did I suggest such a thing earlier in the discussion? It certainly occurred to me that this might be the case. It most definitely wouldn't surprise me if it were true.

Anyway, reading this led me to a very nice quote which I hope is original to me, because if not I have to kill whoever said it first and make it mine.

A healthy dose of cynicism helps the reality go down.

(for some reason, I keep picturing Mary Poppins doing a dance number and singing that line... that really should ruin it, but the image is kind of funny) :laugh:

Ah well, I'm posting in this a bit late, but it deserves comment.

Myspace is in no way responsible for the actions of members. They are not employees. Suing them over this most unfortunate tragedy is yet another example of the frivilous lawsuits swamping the legal system here in the US. Attempting to hold myspace somehow accountable for the crime committed against this young girl is the same as blaming a school for your child's poor attendance record.

In my opinion, the girl's mother is the one responsible for her safety. Too many parents are seeking too many ways to shift their own parental responsiblity off on some other entity or individual...as long as it is not in their own court, they can justify their own lack of involvement and interest in their children. No one deserves to have a crime committed against them. In this sick society, one must be on guard at all times against the activities of predators. Predators come in all stripes, with various motivations. A parent who fails to assist their adolescent child by providing (and enforcing) concrete boundaries can realistically expect their child to be easy prey for predators online, and in ordinary life.

This tragedy is a clear example of just how common predators are, the importance of parents taking an active role in the social life of their children, and the unfortunate need to be on your guard in a very sick society.

DW I totally understand what you mean because of course parents can't control the every move and decision of their children (trying to do so would border on something worse than bad parenting), but when a girl is fourteen years old, doesn't have her own driver's license, may not even be in high school yet... There's really something wrong there.

Oh, and Chanak's post was a very good summary of my feelings without the added anger of being wide awake at 6 am because of jet lag, in case anybody's interested.

@ Des: My bad, and no there's no such lawsuit or anything like that (I would love to see one, however ) but you hear all the time about how celebrities are setting bad examples for the girls that admire them... Blah, blah, etc. That's all I was getting at.

As for the guy getting the age wrong. I remember talking to this girl and on hearing she was still in school, I asked her what she was planning to study at university, thinking she must be in her last year or so.
Answer: "University? My God, I'm only fourteen."

My jaw dropped, if not literally at least figuratively.

So mistaking the age could be very possible.

(doesn't excuse rape if there was one)

@ Lestat. Didn't mean he couldn't mistake her age. But there is a lot of focus on what she should do to protect herself from the risk of assault. If this is statutory rather than forced rape ( I am assuming that distinction also exists in the US) then all I meant to point out is that he met her on the internet as much as she met him. If the risk to her is assault or rape, the risk to him is false accusation or being misled about her age. Should he not take precautions too? I thought it was fairly obvious

[QUOTE=Fiona]@ Lestat. Didn't mean he couldn't mistake her age. But there is a lot of focus on what she should do to protect herself from the risk of assault. If this is statutory rather than forced rape ( I am assuming that distinction also exists in the US) then all I meant to point out is that he met her on the internet as much as she met him. If the risk to her is assault or rape, the risk to him is false accusation or being misled about her age. Should he not take precautions too? I thought it was fairly obvious[/QUOTE]
The comment was not directed at you. It was just that the age of the girl and what that boy said about the situation, brought back that little episode to my mind (I was 22 at the time so fairly close in age).

And hadn't I asked that question, I well might have made moves (though I doubt I wouldn't have found out at one moment or the other she was a minor). The way she looked did make the possibility of her being a minor not even pop up in my (somewhat testosterone clouded) mind. I was much, much more careful afterwards. I do not say that you're wrong, but sometimes "I could have sworn she was 18" (or 19 or 20) has a ring of truth.
Moreover the girl I talked to was honest about her age, but if she'd told me she was 18 or 19 I would have believed her, and might have ended up in a very tricky situation.

On the other hand, I do believe they talk about "sexual assault" rather than statutory rape in the articles.

Aye. It just means both genders are responsible for protecting themselves or neither is. We better get used to it

It's made all the more difficult by the fact that everyone tries to look older than they actually are. Kids are trying to look like teenagers, teenagers are trying to look like adults; it's not until we're adults that we stop that practice altogether. And once we hit a certain age in adulthood, we suddenly find ourselves trying to look younger.

A blog I found (sorry can't link, swearwords) repeats quite a few of the arguments mentioned in this thread, but has an interesting footnote:

*In an interesting footnote, it turns out that Pete Solis is counter-suing, claiming that the girl lied, saying that she was 15. This is relevant because if you are 14 or under, MySpace makes you have a private profile, so that people who don’t know you can’t find you. So it seems that girliepoo intentionally bypassed those protections which the lawsuit claims MySpace doesn’t have.

My question on this is, is it OK for a 15 year old and a 19 year old to engage in sex in Texas? For me it's borderline and depends very much on circumstances.