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MySpace getting sued...

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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    MySpace has a duty of care though, whether it breached that or not depends... does MySpace take steps to make sure people don't meet up like this through their website where parties my be vulnerable? I don't use the website so I don't know, but regardless..

    As for whether she deserved it etc. - of course bloody not. BUT she put herself in an extremely vulnerable position where something like this is more likely to happen. Same with girls who get drunk and walk home alone etc. etc. - they don't deserve it but in doing so they're not being responsible and are increasing the chances of it happening. A drunk driver doesn't deserve to die (well, unless he hits other people, bastard) but if he gets into the car drunk he's much more likely to have a crash and die.

    I dont think MySpace will have to pay out damages, but I do think that MySpace will be required to show that they have increased safeguards for youngsters. Everyone thinks that if you're 10/11 then you have the responsibility to go on what websites you want, but that's not the case, because at young ages, even 14 people make irresponsible and poor decisions. It is a good thing that parents can shield their children from sexual advances by adults, as until they reach an age where they can make a responsible and informed decision then they are subject to ending up in a situation like this.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    As far as I am aware MySpace will let you sign up at 14. But until you are 16 (I think) your profile is Private and only people you add can see it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fiend_85 wrote:
    Oh naturally, he takes someone out to dinner that automatically gives him the right to rape her.

    You sicken me.

    Oh fucking grow up .. I said that it was "tongue-in-cheek ... I don't condone any sexual assault whatsoever".
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Don't swear at me, you edited that in after I posted. Wasn't the first post of it's kind either.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fiend_85 wrote:
    Don't swear at me, you edited that in after I posted. Wasn't the first post of it's kind either.

    Ah ok .. I can see that I may have edited while you were posting yours .. I apologise unreservedly. :blush:

    But what do you mean about "Wasn't the first post of it's kind either"? What other post have I upset you over? :confused:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Does "she deserves to be buggered over a bonnet" ring a bell?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    sophia wrote:
    It's bad enough when people blame adult women for sexual assault when they walk home alone or wear short skirts...but to blame a child when they are assaulted because they should have had more sense is the most twisted logic ever.

    Indeed.

    However, I fail to see how myspace would be liable to be sued in this situation. If you - as a 14 year old - met someone through a friendship or dating website (which stipulated 16 or 18+) who then committed an assault against you then surely you couldn't sue them as they have guidelines regarding meeting people etc. They obviously can't enforce them so it's down to the individual to use their own best judgement; if your best judgement fails you then it's a truly terrible thing but I don't see how you can blame a profile website. The thing about their duty of care and obligation to the girl is that essentially it doesn't exist once you take the relationship off the myspace website and into the real world.

    I feel terribly, terribly sorry for the girl, but I think conviction of her attacker should be what she and her mother are battling for (unless he has already been tried and convicted?) rather than a wedge from myspace.

    Also - "fiddling with her"? Who writes this stuff? :eek2:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fiend_85 wrote:
    Does "she deserves to be buggered over a bonnet" ring a bell?

    But I stated in that one that I was being tongue-in-cheek (I admit it was in poor taste) but your post implied I had upset you elsewhere.

    Oh well .. we can move on. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Anyway, to put a serious note to the discussion, I feel that as a 14 year old she MUST have been warned about the danger of meeting strangers on the Internet and if she had clocked that this guy was older than she had imagined, she should have just turned and ran. I don't believe that MySpace can be held responsible for this ... and I am not saying that she is responsible for her attack either - but some common sense should have prevailed. As a previous poster stated, the money ought to come from the attacker ...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That is if money "ought" to come from anywhere at all, to me it seems like such a strange reaction to being sexually assaulted to immediately launch a law suit of this nature. But I suppose they have their reasons.

    I think it was Thunderstruck who mentioned "blame culture" earlier on, he has a very valid point...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    one stuff I find weird to, is that the guy buy her dinner and cinema first, spend a lot of time with her so she can easily get used to his face and remember him and then go and rape her... You would think that most sexual abuser don't want to be recognise... Maybe this all story is just a lie and a way of trying to make cash... It wouldn't be the first time...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    one stuff I find weird to, is that the guy buy her dinner and cinema first, spend a lot of time with her so she can easily get used to his face and remember him and then go and rape her... You would think that most sexual abuser don't want to be recognise... Maybe this all story is just a lie and a way of trying to make cash... It wouldn't be the first time...
    Well it's more than likely that he did all these things, with the intention of having consensual sex with her, that way no-one would find out. When she refuses him sex, then he rapes her - simple.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Even if she consented, in the states if they're underage it's still classed as sexual assault isnt it? :confused:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    and its still not the fault of myspace.
    How on earth is myspace gonna stop people raping each other.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Even if she consented, in the states if they're underage it's still classed as sexual assault isnt it? :confused:
    Well yeah, but if you don't get caught, then it's not an issue is it? And if she consented, it's far less likely that she'd then go and tell anyone about it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    and its still not the fault of myspace.
    How on earth is myspace gonna stop people raping each other.

    They can't. Besides, what happens offline isn't their problem, right?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well yeah, but if you don't get caught, then it's not an issue is it? And if she consented, it's far less likely that she'd then go and tell anyone about it.

    Maybe her mum found out about it. Or she told them because she changed her mind afterwards. Young girls can be fickle, which is one of the reasons probably why the underage law is there tbh.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote:
    They can't. Besides, what happens offline isn't their problem, right?

    If you sell a car to an underage and he crashes it without insurance then surely you're in the wrong? Even if only slightly. Isn't that a similar sort of instance? MSN Chat was closed because they didn't want minors being groomed so to speak, if MySpace allows young people to go on there and be exposed to grooming or whatever then in my opinion it's failing in a duty of care.

    So they're not responsible for the rape, but they're responsible for allowing an adult to talk to a minor and meet up with them. On a bulletin board it's more passive, but MySpace is a lot about meeting other people, so that's why I think they do have a responsibility. Don't agree with the damages though, but think they should change their practices in future.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Shyboy - you do have a fair point. However, they can't check every profile to make sure that the information given is valid and that nothing considered 'wrong' is going on.
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