Trolling Is Illegal all you flamers and such beware.

[Trystim 0]

Oh how nice it is to see that people can't just log on and start blasting the crap out of someone who makes valid points in discussions just because they don't agree.

Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.


http://news.a.com.com/

[Cerebral Stasis 0]

What is this? My approval of Bush has officially fallen a few dozen percent.That means that if I would, for example, flame someone (especially if they deserved it) under my alias "Cerebral Stasis", I could spend up to two years in jail! This has got to be one of the dumbest laws I've ever seen. I understand how one may not wish to be bashed and may feel bad, but it's all part of the first amendment - Freedom of Speech. I don't see how they can't consider this new law to be a violation of that. No one with much sense would openly flame a bunch of people over the internet without using come kind of alias - it's all a safety issue. This law is asking one to either give up their right to free speech, or give up their right to safety.It's not as if these annoyances are forcing people to read them. If someone considers a certain website or article to be annoying, they could just avoid it, instead of whining like a dog being castrated without being put under. Ditto radio and television. There are pleanty of things there that insult or annoy people, but most people don't throw a b**ch-fit over it. All I know is that, if I get arrested for hurting someone's feelings, I'm going to fight tooth and nail against it. There is no way that I'm going to do time or pay a fine just because I crushed someone's fragile ego.Thankfully, even the writer of that article realizes the stupidity of this whole ordeal. I hope that this law is nullified soon - very soon. I'd hate to have to move to a third-world country just because I enjoy letting others know how much they suck.

[joeyss 0]

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ You can go to jail if you annoy some one.I only seen that on this site, which tells me it could be cnet's joke.
But who knows?

[BordaForx 0]

Yeah, I've seen that too. But look at http://ww2.annoyed.com/rg-erdr.php?_rpo=t. It says this:

On today's C|Net, Declan McCullagh commented on congress' newly passed law, insidiously buried in the Violence Against Woman and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act, which criminalizes the sending of annoying email messages without disclosing your true identity.
Although this new law is not clear, it appears similar to how the Communications Decency Act broadened §223 beyond telephones to communications transmitted by computer, restricting a medium that is significantly less intrusive than the telephone. A ringing telephone intrudes into private space and carries the ability to harass or annoy even if no content is communicated, especially when the calls are repeated or come in the middle of the night. But computer communications are silent and, importantly, they are read only if the recipient chooses to read them.

It appears, with Sec. 113, that one is guilty of a crime if one were simply to "utilize" a telecommunications device "with intent to annoy" a person. Regardless of the content, or even in its absence. A conduct rather than a content crime. Perhaps waving a Blackberry in someone's face. Or annoying someone by using their cell phone as a vibrator.

So...it might NOT be a joke. Hopfully it's a joke.

[Plenoptic 0]

I sort of hope it's true. I sort of think it is but I only found it on the site you gave and CNET itself. Annoying is well what it is called "annoying". It only says you have to post your real name that isn't a big deal. I don't annoy people and it will get people who do it using a fake name will be punished. Two years might be a little harsh though. Sometimes it can be a joke on a friend but I sort of see why.

[iwuvcookies 0]

What if you have really have anal ladies and they pick at everything? They thing everything is annoying. lol. I think this is ridiculous. Might as well not talk to any female in general through email or whatever. I swear the government is doing weird stuff. I think its sort of real because its from Cnet. They're pretty trusted source to read from.

[brandice 0]

How can you really put a scale on what is 'annoying'? I really can not see any way that it is possible to enforce this law. There are a lot of people who don't use their real names, and there are also a lot of people who are annoying without realizing it.