(no subject)

[metaphorge]

[Poll #817566]

My take: yeah, sure, the guys that sent this information in were dummies. However, rfjason was even dumber to expose himself to the potential legal liability for undertaking the action in the first place. Even if he wins any pending lawsuits it's going to cost him a pretty penny.

In any case, be careful who you send your personal info to on the internet, kids....

Comments

[plutopsyche.livejournal.com]

These people willingly handed over personal detials and photos in the hopes of getting some tail. These people do not deserve protection.

[pope-guilty.livejournal.com]

Yeah, damn sex wanters!

Let's post their information in the public square, next to the photographs of people going into porn stores!

[plutopsyche.livejournal.com]

Darling, you are so missing the point. Sex isn't the issue, it never was.

[pope-guilty.livejournal.com]

It looks to me like the issue (to you, anyway) is "Look, people who've put themselves in a situation where they can be singled out for ridicule! Let's call 'em names and shove 'em into the lockers at school!"

Seriously. This isn't high school, and your type was despicable even then.

[plutopsyche.livejournal.com]

"My type"? You're American, aren't you?

[metaphorge.livejournal.com]

Okay guys, let's cool it down now. I don't want this turning into a personal flamewar in my LJ.

[ethora.livejournal.com]

I think that your point is that people who are dumb enough to place themselves in jeopardy by sharing personal information with strangers get what they deserve. Am I right, and if so do you place Jason (the guy conducting the "experiment") in the same category if/when he gets the shit beat out of him (or worse) by one (or more) of the pain-inflicting hobbyists he baited?

[plutopsyche.livejournal.com]

I think that your point is that people who are dumb enough to place themselves in jeopardy by sharing personal information with strangers get what they deserve.

Close. These people need to accept responsibility for their decisions, however ill-advised. These risks aren't new, and this guy isn't sharing any information they didn't give him directly. Sure, he's making it more publically available than they perhaps intended, but they knew the risks. Far more detailed information can be easily obtained and used for nefarious purposes from your average n00b h4x0r, and even stored as cookies from your favourite sites.

Now, while this guy certainly must be expecting retaliation, he's not hiding. He has pictures of himself posted on his website and his LJ, as well as the state and city he lives in. His IP address is easily captured in comments, and it would be easy enough to trace him. He must know this. I never condone physical violence, but this is a very real risk that he runs.

Did he go too far? Perhaps, if he's not willing to accept responsibility for his actions. If he can ride it out as he seems to think he can, then best of luck to him - it provided me with a laugh.

[ethora.livejournal.com]

See, I'm not so sure that the men who replied to the ad knew the risks. Some did, certainly, but most people are ignorant to such things as how data is transmitted, stored, and potentially used. I'm not saying that ignorance is an excuse, but rather I am disagreeing with your statement that "they knew the risks." For example, one of these guys is now on a mission to get his information removed from Jason's site. Little does he know (obviously) that even if Jason deletes his entire page that the personal information of all these guys will live on forever in mirror sites. Surely the man who continues to try to have his info removed, and who works at a children's education facility by the way, did not know all the risks he was taking when he answered that ad.

Although these men are among the least desirable humans I can think of (I'm just not into brutality at all), I find nothing funny about what Jason has done to them. I used to be able to laugh at human stupidity, but now it's just a downer for me. Maybe it's hormones...

[metaphorge.livejournal.com]

The guy that did the posting deserves protection even less; this was a much more foolish action on his part than it was on the fools who sent him their information in the first place. I hope he gets bankrupted by the lawsuits.

[plutopsyche.livejournal.com]

No, I think they're both on equal terms. Both ends knew the risks involved.

Anarchy, baby.

[metaphorge.livejournal.com]

In an ideal anarchistic solution his personal details would simply get distributed and we could pop some popcorn. ;)

[plutopsyche.livejournal.com]

Got butter?

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Most certainly. I'm somewhat uncertain what he did should be a crime, but I'm very much looking forward to him losing many lawsuits. Definitely a particularly vile idiot.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

Coming from someone "stupid enough" to post an address and enough personal info in their LJ profile for even a stupid psychopath to find them, that's almost funny in itself.

[plutopsyche.livejournal.com]

Now you're getting it!

[metaphorge.livejournal.com]

Point taken, though I think there's a meanignful difference between the type of identifying information a number of us provide in online profiles such as LJ info and flat-put giving a name and address, to say nothing of the context of the material that this information is attached to.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

I fail to see how context has anything to do with it. And there's a perfectly good postal address in above dipshit's profile.

[metaphorge.livejournal.com]

Business address.

As far as context goes, there would seem to be a lot of difference in how people would feel about a situation depending on what their personal info was linked to. For example, if the scam had been about girl scout cookies instead of borderlline misogynistic BDSM I think fewer people would have had their underwear ruffled about the linkage.

[plutopsyche.livejournal.com]

Americans are funny about sex - so, for you, is that the issue?

[metaphorge.livejournal.com]

Sex isn't really the issue for me, and I feel like if someone is going to inhabit the sexual personae that the ad is seeking in the first place, one should not be shy about owning that aspect of themself.

What I find troubling is the obtaining of personal information on false pretenses and then making the information public in ways that were not previously agreed upon by both parties beforehand, which is a hallmark of how rfjason and his crew have operated for some time now in their various stunts. While I do feel it was foolish for the men to have sent their info in in the first place, I generally don't feel the momentary amusement afforded by their misfortune is worth the overall chilling effect such tactics create in communication in general. This is the sort of bullshit that gets new legal "protections" proposed and passed in the first place, and I think we have ebough of those to deal with already thankyouverymuch.

It's a big chain of irresponsible behavior that ultimately has a chan ce of decreasing my personal quality of life, if only incrementally, so I say fuck these idiots.

[ethora.livejournal.com]

I feel I must note that this is the most eloquent, lucid, and right-on comment in the entire thread.

[alostrael.livejournal.com]

I think for me, the key word is consensuality, or "agreed upon by both parties beforehand". If I did not give permission for you to make private information public, then it shouldn't have been... I expect that "locked posts" on my livejournal remain private, but I make them available for certain persons to read... but then again, like I said, I think you are a dumbass if you make private information available online to a total stranger. Who knows where that info goes or is used for?

Good post, btw, lots of interesting comments.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

The fact that it's linked to the sort of information that can cost people jobs, careers, family and marriages does make it crueler. However, publishing personal info gotten under false pretenses and without any permission is still pretty criminal and sociopathic behavior.

*blinks*

[devcandy.livejournal.com]

Why not? *looks seriously confused*

Arashi （嵐）