Comments on: Court: Don't blame MySpace for offline sexual assault

When a 14-year-old girl was assaulted by a man she met on the social network, her mother filed suit against MySpace. No can do, an appeals court ruled--especially since the girl had deliberately circumvented safety regulations.

[The_Decider]

Wow, an intelligent court ruling. The parent is responsible for their child? It is so crazy, it might just work. What I want to know is why this girl was so stupid as to meet a total stranger. It happens all the time, even to adults. They talk to someone online and think that they actually know a person when the reality is that person they have been talking to(how long doesn't matter) is a stranger. How did the human race devolve to this sort of idiocy?

[The_Decider]

Wow, an intelligent court ruling. The parent is responsible for their child? It is so crazy, it might just work. What I want to know is why this girl was so stupid as to meet a total stranger. It happens all the time, even to adults. They talk to someone online and think that they actually know a person when the reality is that person they have been talking to(how long doesn't matter) is a stranger. How did the human race devolve to this sort of idiocy?

[Lerianis]

They haven't 'devolved'. It's just that people think that other people are going to be more 'honest' online.... as if!
My experience: people lie JUST AS MUCH ONLINE AS IN REAL LIFE, if not a little bit more, unless they are like myself.

[hunter_jc]

This ruling sound contradictory to the charges laid to that woman who said things to make a girl to commit suicde.

[Dalkorian]

Why? These are two very different cases, you're trying to compare apples to automobiles here. In this case we have a minor (13 years old) who tells lies, disobeys all instructions and hides her activity from her parent, all in an attempt to "act like a grown up", but then cries like a baby when grown up things happen to her and tries to sue the website she DEFRAUDED to put herself in this position. The other case is a grown up committing fraud in order to torment a depressed 13 year old until she commits suicide. If you can't see the difference in these cases, please find a nice cave to hide out in for the rest of your life.

[Lerianis]

Finally..... a SMART ruling by a judge, who realizes that the true way to protect children is for them to follow the rules of these online communities and to NOT meet the people there in person.... at least not without their parents or someone else with them, if they are adults.

[basraw]

I bet this girl looked like she was 18. damn.. poor pete solis.

[Mercury23]

Can it be true? A judge with common sense? Parents seem to think they can pass off their duties in raising their children to TV and the internet and then want to blame things like music, video games, chat rooms for their children's behavior. It's the lack of parental involvement that is the problem, not the music, not the websites, not GTA IV. Thank you judge for telling this woman the way it is. It's not MySpace's place to ID check every single person who lies about their age. The parents should be watching what their children are doing. I would have fined the mom, or give her and the daughter 1000 hours of community service, that way they are forced to spend some time together and maybe they will actually bond in a way that the mom wants to watch over her child like she should be doing.

[ghosford]

Wow, I wonder how many posters here have children? First, I want to say that, tragic as this situation is, the judge did make the right decision. I also believe that most parents need to be more involved with their kids. However, many parents have never been on these sites and don't know what the age requirements are for these sites.

Parents of teens have to strike a delicate balance between granting the teens independence and controlling every move they make. It's harder than it looks! I probably err on the side of controlling our kids too much, which has its own drawbacks, but when your child says "all my friends" (12 yr old 6th graders) have accounts on Facebook or MySpace, contrary to the published rules (and, yes, most of them have), you have to realize that the norm is for kids to lie about their age and keep it from their parents. And before you say that good parents know what their kids are doing, ask yourself how many things you successfully kept from your parents when you were a kid?

Yes, the mother should have monitored more closely what her daughter did (and I bet she will in the future), but don't make it a rant about how bad parents are today. Learn from it, and if you have kids, do your best to stay involved in their lives.

[soggy0]

Not an irony Texas is the exception. Just look at its "products."

[Heebee Jeebies]

It is sad that in today's world this could happen to a 14-year old. I feel for her. However maybe next time she won't think of rules and safeties as something put there for everyone but herself. Oh, and mom and dad its a good thing she has you looking out for her.

Robert

[MaxAgent86]

Not really, as if you read carefully: "Parties complaining that they were harmed by a Web site's publication of user-generated content...may sue the third-party user who generated the content," Judge Edith Clement Brown asserted in the ruling, "but not the interactive computer service that enabled them to publish the content online. In the suicide case you are talking about the 3rd party (the mother) was sued, not the site

[MaxAgent86]

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