Myspace issue...please help!

[dp178]

What is the name of your state? TX

Hi, I have another question about myspace slander/harrassment, etc. I recently had a falling out with a group of people who have continued to harrass and "slander" me via myspace. I've done research on similiar incidents and have been ignoring these people, which is the advice I get from pretty much everyone. I've kept screen prints and copies of all the comments and messages relating to it that have been posted on "ex-friends" pages. I have literally done NOTHING in return, no response, nothing. So the latest is they have taken one of my pictures from one of my friends pages (my profile is private) and set up a profile using my name (private of course), and are now posting derogatory comments as ME related to my personal life and things I have been going through over the past year. For example, one comment reads something to the effect that I ruined a marriage and I just want to love someone again. (It was an abusive marriage, and they know that...not that it matters). So, I contacted myspace and went through all the steps you are supposed to take, and they are investigating it right now. I have asked them to provide me with any information they might come up with that I could possibly use. I'm just wondering now what my rights are beyond just going through myspace. It may sound like trivial childishness to most people, but it has really caused me a lot of emotional turmoil. These people are being nasty...not just rude, absolutely nasty and low. I've tried ignoring them and hoping it will go away, but it's obviously not working, so at what point is it enough and do I need to pursue this further? And if so, what are my rights? Thank you so much for your input...I'm at my wits end.

 

[TomD1974]

dp, do you honestly think that anyone that matters would read the material posted by these kids and take it seriously? It is childish, as you say, and anyone and everyone knows it. If anything, it reflects positively on you as someone that deserves so much attention that people are willing to spend hours on you. It is the 21st-century version of toilet-papering. When I see a nice TP job on a house in my neighborhood, I think "the kid that lives there must be pretty popular"

Bask in the glory. It is when people start ignoring you that it is time to worry.

 

[quincy]

First of all, I want to preface this by saying that I am a big believer in freedom of speech. I am not a fan of censorship and, in fact, I have a growing collection of books that have been censored over the years for one reason or another. That said, I, ironically perhaps, spend my days trying to prevent others from saying everything they want to say.

Currently there are numerous internet suits in progress, brought because of libelous comments made on sites such as MySpace and YouTube and DontDateHimGirl. Libel laws apply, not only to newspapers, but to ANYTHING written, including the blurbs on blogs and live journals.

One libel suit currently in the courts in Pennsylvania involves several MySpace profiles created by four ex-students of a teacher there. Although MySpace removed the defamatory sites within days of being contacted by school officials, the teacher sued the students for defamation. Bloggers are facing an increase in libel suits, as well - one successful suit resulted in a $50,000 judgment against the blogger. And a lawyer is currently suing DontDateHimGirl, and seven women who posted on the site, charging them with defamation.

Your first move is the one you made - to contact MySpace to have the offending material deleted. You can have MySpace remove the photo.

A libel suit, while possible (depending on the level of defamation and the damage incurred by it), is time consuming and expensive and there is no guarantee that you'd win such a suit. You can always contact a lawyer to see if he thinks you have enough to file, but I suspect your damages are not that great.

Unfortunately, people feel anonymous enough on the Internet to write whatever they want about anyone or anything they want. The more lawsuits filed, however, the more they may start realizing that freedom of speech has limits.

 

[beta]

First of all. Can you be a little more specific. Your post seems scattered and you give no specific example of what was said or incinuated etc. Also, when you say that you asked my space whom you can sue and how they can help you with this issue etc???

If you are serious about "Litigation". You have to get a lawyer. My Space is not going to cooperate or provide you with any information which would help you or assist you in suing. The information can be obtained, however you must secure an attorney seasoned in this area of law. My Space as well as any other internet site must comply with a supboena associated with a lawsuit. That is your only way in this situation. They don't have to nor will My Space give you any information about a poster on their site. "Privacy Reasons"! Hire a lawyer, get a supboena, and take it from there. Litigations of this nature can be very expensive and take a long time to resolve. So if you do have the money and time, then go for it! If not, my best advice "Forget It"!! You will find no "Pro-Buono" attorney to do work of this nature. Good Luck!!

 

[dp178]

Thanks for the input

First off, thanks to everyone who replied...I didn't want to waste as much time and energy on these people as they have on me, so I figured this was the first place to start.

In response to TomD1974, thanks for the insight, but I did want to clear something up, which I should have done to begin with...these are not kids...these are 29 and 30 year olds. I'm actually smiling that you would assume that, because their behavior does reflect that of high-school children. The problem is, we aren't in high school, we're seasoned adults who know better, and they are recruiting more and more people into this...the current count is probably around 15 people with one person in particular leading the whole thing. I've been told be many people I should be flattered, unfortunately when they are impersonating me and posting derrogatory comments on pages of people I interract with, that's where I draw the line. I live in a semi-small college town of about 200k people, and everyone is connected in one freakish way or another, and people I know are seeing this. Some of them are smart enough to realize it isn't me, but it's my name and my picture, so how can I be sure they really know it's NOT me.

In response to everyone else...I have thought about getting a lawyer or possibly pursuing a restraining order, though I'm not sure how valuable that will be based on the fact that this is occuring online. I need to point out that this has been going on for over 3 months now. I've done nothing in response, and when I say nothing, I mean that. I haven't emailed them, called them, posted stuff about them to get back at them, Spoken about them or to them, nothing. They have received absolutely no form of contact from me since this whole thing started, which is why I have growing concern that it won't stop. Normal human beings get bored by now...it's been over 3 months! Yet, they continue to take it up a notch.

I basically just wanted to see what my options were without exhausting too much of my time. These people have obviously never received consequences for their actions up to this point, and maybe that's just what they need. Which, by this time in life it's likely too late, but at least maybe I can prevent this from happening to someone else. I really just want to be left alone at this point. I have a life and I'm tired of thinking this is over and then their next plan unfolds, just to catch me offguard when I'm not expecting it. Like I said, if people I know weren't seeing this, and if it was just fun and games with me playing along, it would be one thing, but they have crossed the line one too many times and it has to stop. When does it become too much and when will someone finally put a stop to people's rights being violated?

 

[quincy]

dp178 - When does it become too much? I sure wish I knew. I know there are laws to cover just about every kind of crime (from minor to major), and laws against meanness are being considered even now. But why it takes a law to make people nice is beyond me.

 

[Quaere]

dp178....If these people are not defaming you by telling false facts about you, you could still sue them for invasion of privacy or intentional infliction of emotional distress.

You may want to have an attorney send them a cease and desist letter. They are probably convinced there is nothing you can do to them legally. They are wrong and a stong letter from an atty is likely to scare the daylights out of them.

BTW, I do not believe in "ignoring" such behavior.