• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Internet harassment

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.



quincy

Senior Member
Magdela, the Pennsylvania code you quoted was repealed.

And what you quoted above is copyrighted. Leave the link, remove the quoted portion. People can check it out on their own.

And Pennsylvania does not have a criminal defamation law like the Georgia law you cited. Most states repealed or struck down as unconstitutional their criminal defamation laws long ago.

I will post back with more later. But Dog is right about the difficulty in pursuing a case against an anonymous poster - not to mention the expense (multi, multi, multi thousands).
 

Magdela

Member
Magdela, the Pennsylvania code you quoted was repealed.

And what you quoted above is copyrighted. Leave the link, remove the quoted portion. People can check it out on their own.

And Pennsylvania does not have a criminal defamation law like the Georgia law you cited. Most states repealed or struck down as unconstitutional their criminal defamation laws long ago.

I will post back with more later. But Dog is right about the difficulty in pursuing a case against an anonymous poster - not to mention the expense (multi, multi, multi thousands).
Can you provide info on when this was repealed? That's an interesting response. Thanks.
 

Magdela

Member
If I may be so bold, what exactly is your job within the legal field?
Dog is that you? did you change your screen name. That is bold and I rather not answer that in this thread or publicly as I would like my privacy respected.

If this is not Dog, I asked Dog a similar question and did not receive a response either so I'm going letting the whole issue go in regards to who does what in real life.
 

quincy

Senior Member
2002, Magdela.

Wadsworth will want to check out Pennsylvania's Consolidated Statutes, Title 18, Chapter 76.
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
Dog is that you? did you change your screen name. That is bold and I rather not answer that in this thread or publicly as I would like my privacy respected.

If this is not Dog, I asked Dog a similar question and did not receive a response either so I'm going letting the whole issue go in regards to who does what in real life.
My PM function is operational.

Please be aware that because you have - several times - stated that you work within the legal field, your claim may need to be verified by site admin.

ETA: You asked if I was a lawyer (which was not quite the same question). I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be; I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn last night.
 
Last edited:

Magdela

Member
My PM function is operational.

Please be aware that because you have - several times - stated that you work within the legal field, your claim may need to be verified by site admin.

ETA: You asked if I was a lawyer (which was not quite the same question). I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be, and I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn last night.
Are you a comedian because the Holiday Inn comment is comedy...however what is the verification process and what does it involve. Good to know you are NOT a lawyer because if you were you would have noticed I did not ask you if you were a lawyer but rather I assumed you were one and asked where you practiced...but thank you kindly for clearing that up.
 

quincy

Senior Member
You have given SOME good advice, Magdela, but I would avoid the legal advice if I were you. ;)

Wadsworth, as Magdela advised early on, you should first file a report with the police, and provide them with printouts of all of the offensive blog and website and forum postings, and copies of the messages and emails you and your family and friends have received from your harasser. The Pennsylvania State Police have computer crime units, and they can assist in investigating the postings, especially if there have been threats made against you.

Again, as Magdela advised, you should visit all of the social networking sites and websites where your harasser has posted and file complaints. The administrators may, or may not, remove the offensive material upon receipt of your complaint without a court order. They may, or may not, close the harasser's account so he can no longer access it.

In order to get a court order to compel a website to remove material posted (if they will not do so willingly upon receipt of your complaint), or in order to subpoena the ISP for the identity of the harasser, a court will generally require that you file suit against the harasser first. This can be done, as Dogmatique said, by filing a suit against "John Doe."

If you file suit in order to obtain court orders to have material removed from a site or to obtain the identity of your harasser, you must have enough evidence to present to the court to demonstrate to the court that you have an actionable case against John Doe.

As Dog advised, you really should have an attorney handle this, as trying to deal with an anonymous poster is almost impossible to do without a legal professional.

I will post more later.
 

Magdela

Member
You have given SOME good advice, Magdela, but I would avoid the legal advice if I were you. ;)

Wadsworth, as Magdela advised early on, you should first file a report with the police, and provide them with printouts of all of the offensive blog and website and forum postings, and copies of the messages and emails you and your family and friends have received from your harasser. The Pennsylvania State Police have computer crime units, and they can assist in investigating the postings, especially if there have been threats made against you.

Again, as Magdela advised, you should visit all of the social networking sites and websites where your harasser has posted and file complaints. The administrators may, or may not, remove the offensive material upon receipt of your complaint without a court order. They may, or may not, close the harasser's account so he can no longer access it.

In order to get a court order to compel a website to remove material posted (if they will not do so willingly upon receipt of your complaint), or in order to subpoena the ISP for the identity of the harasser, a court will generally require that you file suit against the harasser first. This can be done, as Dogmatique said, by filing a suit against "John Doe."

If you file suit in order to obtain court orders to have material removed from a site or to obtain the identity of your harasser, you must have enough evidence to present to the court to demonstrate to the court that you have an actionable case against John Doe.

As Dog advised, you really should have an attorney handle this, as trying to deal with an anonymous poster is almost impossible to do without a legal professional.

I will post more later.
Great post Quincy! Thanks again!
 

quincy

Senior Member
Wadsworth, you mentioned you have an IP address and an email from your harasser, correct?

You may be able to do some investigating on your own. The IP address and the email can potentially reveal a lot about your harasser.

For information on the IP address, go to whatismyipaddress.com and follow the instructions there. The site will explain what you can, and cannot, learn from an IP address alone. You may only, for instance, be able to discover the state or city where you harasser is from, but it's a start. You will need the information from the ISP to narrow your search.

For abusive emails, identify the domain (located after the @) and contact that ISP. Visit the ISP website to file a complaint against the emailer. When you read the full header on the email, you may find that the real identity of the emailer is revealed.

An estimated 95% of online harassers collect the personal information that they use directly from the person they are harassing. Many people hand over this information willingly to anonymous online "friends" and other personal information is revealed to the public on social networking sites and forums such as this one.

Once personal information is posted online, it is no longer private. The public can access it. Unfortunately, not everyone who accesses this information will be honorable.

Pennsylvania has many legal aid clinics scattered throughout the state. If you live near one of the law schools, law students and lawyers man the clinics in the area, and these clinics are great places to get legal advice and direction, and the students are eager to help.

Good luck.

And thanks for the thanks, Magdela.
 
Last edited:

Magdela

Member
The history on westlaw shows that it was not repealed but re-written to add additional language. I'm still interested in where you got that it was repealed. I saw a few cases in PA in 2006 where 18 Pa.C.S. § 2709 (2006)
§ 2709. Harassment was used and defendants were found guilty. Help me understand clearly what you were saying Quincy.
 

Magdela

Member
Wadsworth, you mentioned you have an IP address and an email from your harasser, correct?

You may be able to do some investigating on your own. The IP address and the email can potentially reveal a lot about your harasser.

For information on the IP address, go to whatismyipaddress.com and follow the instructions there. The site will explain what you can, and cannot, learn from an IP address alone. You may only, for instance, be able to discover the state or city where you harasser is from, but it's a start. You will need the information from the ISP to narrow your search.

For abusive emails, identify the domain (located after the @) and contact that ISP. Visit the ISP website to file a complaint against the emailer. When you read the full header on the email, you may find that the real identity of the emailer is revealed.

An estimated 95% of online harassers collect the personal information that they use directly from the person they are harassing. Many people hand over this information willingly to anonymous online "friends" and other personal information is revealed to the public on social networking sites and forums such as this one.

Once personal information is posted online, it is no longer private. The public can access it. Unfortunately, not everyone who accesses this information will be honorable.

Pennsylvania has many legal aid clinics scattered throughout the state. If you live near one of the law schools, law students and lawyers man the clinics in the area, and these clinics are great places to get legal advice and direction, and the students are eager to help.

Good luck.

And thanks for the thanks, Magdela.

Quincy, Excellent! Great info!
 

Antigone*

Senior Member
If I may be so bold, what exactly is your job within the legal field?
Well blow me down, FA not only has a Greek princess but now we have a Greek Goddesses.

I don't.think we can convince quincy to take on the moniker of Haedes? What do you think qincy??? :D
 

quincy

Senior Member
Ha. I see you need one of those British random u's, Antigone. :)

As for Haedes, I fancy myself more an Achilles - although a modern-day pacifist version, with ankle armour (ahhh....there is the missing u!).



. . . . and Magdela, I may have meant that I needed more coffee. . . . and what is up with your bolding?
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top