Murdered Over Autocorrect? Or Just Because Some People Are Crazy

from the where's-the-lawsuit? dept

Wed, Feb 16th 2011 7:06am — Mike Masnick

I have to admit that DamnYouAutoCorrect.com has become a regular visit for me -- especially when I need a good laugh. While I get the feeling a bunch of them are faked these days, some of them are amazingly funny (this one seems to be a popular one). However, now there are some (slightly sketchy) reports coming out of the UK that an autocorrect mistake may have resulted in a murder, after some guy thought his friend was calling him a "nutter." Oddly, it was the guy whose phone made the mistake who killed the other guy, but he insists that the recipient of the misplaced "nutter" came over to his apartment with a big knife in response. Of course, the other guy also appears to have prepared himself by placing knives strategically in his apartment so he could respond. And respond he did, as the dead man apparently had over 100 injuries from the knives. I think this guy probably has got bigger problems than just his phone "autocorrecting" messages...

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.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: autocorrect, murder

13 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

2scoopsofreason (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 7:26am

He should be more reasonable...
He should have just sued for character defamation/liable. No need to go to extremes.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 7:40am

New legislation on the way...
You already can't text while driving or walking. Now you'll no longer be able to text while conversing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
:Lobo Santo (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 7:42am

Re: New legislation on the way...
And thinking! No texting and thinking simultaneously...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 7:49am

Question...
Who do I sue for having just lost a full hour on damnyouautocorrect.com?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Feb 2011 @ 8:05am

Re: He should be more reasonable...
Yeah, but who would he sue? The guy who sent him the text, for defaming his (personal) character; or the phone manufacturer, for defaming an (orthographic) character?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mr. LemurBoy (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 8:18am

Autocorrect is evil! Won't somebody stop this menace!? Think of the children!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 8:38am

Re: Re: New legislation on the way...
No texting and thinking simultaneously...

Pretty sure that won't be a problem. No one seems to do it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Greg G (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 8:50am

Re: Question...
I suggest Apple, and any other makers of smart phones.

If these had not been created, no one would be auto-corrected by their sometimes smart-ass phones.

I sure don't need my phones assistance to get into trouble. I can manage that quite well on my own.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 9:01am

Re:
Oh, please. There's nothing wrong with autocorrect. If you're low on blood sugar, just spend the sixty-five sense for a cock....

Sent from my iPad
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Feb 2011 @ 9:26am

Crazy people everywhere.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jon Snow (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 11:09am

Curse you, Mike
Just wasted an hour -- first of many no doubt -- LMAO on that silly autocorrect site.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PandaMarketer (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 11:38am

Mike is spying on me?
I just posted an image from there on my FB yesterday, and now it shows up on TD!

http://damnyouautocorrect.com/images/wnt-2.jpg
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 16 Feb 2011 @ 1:08pm

Re: Re: Re: New legislation on the way...
Or perhaps, in the best Heller-esque fashion, they'll outlaw texting while texting.
[ link to this | view in thread ]