Principal Loses Lawsuit Against Students Over Fake MySpace Profile
from the taking-the-pal-out-of-principal dept
You may remember a story we had last year about a principal at a school so overreacting to some students creating a fake MySpace profile for him that he took them to court. It's one thing to ask MySpace to take down such a profile or to discipline the students in school (both of which would likely backfire as well), but to take them to court seems extreme. And, apparently, the courts think so too. An appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that there was no defamation or intentional infliction of emotional distress in the case. Of course, the judge does also scold the kids for their "unacceptable" conduct. Luckily for the kids, "unacceptable" wasn't against the law in this case.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: defamation, myspace profile, principal, students
Companies: myspace
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Maybe it's time for that principle to retire...
He's wasted how much of the school district's money fighting this?
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Re: Maybe it's time for that principle to retire...
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Re: Maybe it's time for that principle to retire...
I see you didn't spend enough time in school. Maybe you didn't even complete High School. The head of a school is called a Principal. . . because he is a "pal" trying through his or her teachers to EDUCATE you. If any one put up a fake MySpace profile about me there would be Hell to pay. What is wrong with this country and the people under 30 to say that this ok. Kids in the Hood shoot people for less! You are the DUMB-ASS.
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Re: Maybe it's time for that principle to retire...
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Your as dumb as Michael above. I bet if you use a computer at work you spend a lot of time on the Internet doing personal surfing; do you clock out or just consider it a benefit that your employer doesn't know he is giving you. A false document is a false document where ever you create it.
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My 2 cents. It all depends on what the content of the website contained. Were they being cute/funny or were they being malicious?! It matters.
However, if they did violate the user agreement, they should pay with what the law allows.
Now I am wondering, what would happen if the princiPAL did the same thing to a student? Curious as to what the reaction would be? I am.
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Sorry Bill, but you are wrong. You are attempting to blend the lines between presenting false information as fact, with parody. There is a difference. Also, if that happens outside a school setting, you can not use your powers in school to respond. It becomes a civil matter, and as seen here, he can take them to court, contact MySpace, etc. He can not impose his will on a captive audience for something that happened outside that enviroment. Outside of class it's a personal issue, not an educational system issue.
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http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/0297/ijde/goodale.htm
Have a nice day!
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Cornfuzed
Couldn't he just have quietly requested the page be removed due to violation of the MySpace TOS? After the Lori Drew incident it seems like they would be more than willing to remove the profile.
Punishing the students in school is beyond her authority.
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Nuh uh
Sucks to be a kid today.
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Defemation
Just because "everybody" is doing it and it's "an internet thing" doesn't give the kiddies license to do whatever the hell they want.
You have to be careful - even when sharing your opinion - because that opinion is not protected as free speech when it defames someone. I though TechDirt readers would understand this by now.
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Re: Defemation
No, he didn't, and this is where people who don't understand what defamation really is, get in trouble. In order to defame him, they would have posted the information from their own personal view, as fact, then be proven wrong. In this case, he was the source of a joke, and the profile was quite obviously designed for entertainment, not fact. You can't sue people for making fun of you... at least you are not intended to win.
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Re: Spelling
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How is this case really any different? The ends of the false profiles are different but the means are identical, and its the means that that woman is being tried under. I say send the kids to jail.
If you could'nt read the sarcasim in this whole post you need to refrain from all human communication.
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Hilarious
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That's right. And I could get court time. I'd be laughed out of the court room - but it's not ILLEGAL to sue for any reason whatsoever. So... stfu.
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myspace whats really legal...
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feelings
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No one has the right to get on My Space and pose as someone else to ruin their reputation all because they are a Principal or any other person the perpetrator hates. And people who do this are hateful.
Even if the courts of society don't recognize a man's reputation being ruined by a hate filled little brat as assault, there are laws of truth that do and one important one is, "what goes around, comes around." What you do to someone will be revisited on you and most times far worse than anything you did. When that happens, and it will, just keep in mind all the attempts to justify slandering someone on my Space or any other place on the web you people posted here.
This especially goes for the ones who did the slandering. When it's your turn, remember all your friends here that so callously defended your right to ruin someone else. Their words will be fueling others who will defend your attacker's right to slander you.
I love the ones who slander others online and believe, "it will never happen to me". They scream the loudest when it's their turn.
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Parents
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