Quote :

Jade Goody website 'troll' from Manchester jailed

An "internet troll" who posted obscene messages on Facebook sites set up in memory of dead people has been jailed.

Colm Coss, of Ardwick, Manchester, posted on a memorial page for Big Brother star Jade Goody and a tribute site to John Paul Massey, a Liverpool boy mauled to death by a dog.

The 36-year-old "preyed on bereaved families" for his "own pleasure", Manchester Magistrates Court heard.

He was jailed for 18 weeks for sending "malicious communications".

The posts included comments claiming he had sex with the victims' dead bodies, the court heard.

He was charged under the Communications Act 2003, for sending malicious communications that were grossly offensive.

Unemployed Coss was only caught when he sent residents on his street photos of himself saying he was an internet "troll".

One of the residents passed the photos to police who interviewed him before he eventually admitted to posting abusive messages.

The term "troll" was described in court as someone who creates new identities on Facebook accounts and then posts numerous offensive comments to upset or provoke a reaction from others.

Chairwoman of the bench Pauline Salisbury said: "You preyed on bereaved families who were suffering trauma and anxiety.

"We know you gained pleasure and you aren't sorry for what you did."
The defence raised possible mental health issues but they were dismissed by the bench.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-11650593

There is hope after all.

Wow, tough guy.

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The term "troll" was described in court as someone who creates new identities on Facebook accounts and then posts numerous offensive comments to upset or provoke a reaction from others.

What...? Who came up with that term...

Anyway, he got what he deserved.

Quote from DevilDare :

What...? Who came up with that term...

Anyway, he got what he deserved.

The term "Troll", as with many other 'net terms' has been around since the days of barnet and fidonet, way before average people started buying "word processors with an internet".

Net abuse can be serious in extreme cases, but i'd have thought that most reactions to messages like that would have been "weirdo...moderate" followed by a plethora of "+1"'s, rather than PR companies becoming offended.

Quote from Becky Rose :

The term "Troll", as with many other 'net terms' has been around since the days of barnet and fidonet, way before average people started buying "word processors with an internet".

Erhm... I know that.

What I meant was, since when does the term "troll" only apply to FB?

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"troll" was described in court as someone who creates new identities on Facebook accounts

Just taken a look at the relevant section of the Communications Act 2003 and it brings up a couple of points. It says that:

Quote from Section 127 :

(1)A person is guilty of an offence if he—

(a)sends by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character; or

(b)causes any such message or matter to be so sent.

However, I don't see definitions listed for "grossly offensive", "indecent", "obscene" or "menacing". I appreciate that it's impossible to specify exactly what actions are within each of these definitions, but it seems to me that it's widely open to interpretation. Quoting one of Mark Thomas' stand-ups: "one man's shit is another man's crap is another man's poo". Someone claiming to have had sex with the dead body of a child who has been killed in a dog attack would clearly be in contravention of the above law in my opinion, but I'm sure there are some things that I would find grossly offensive that other people would not and vice versa.

I also wonder where freedom of speech fits in with this legislation. Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from responsibility from your actions, but it just seems like this legislation is too open to the opinions of the people who are hearing the case.

Quote from DevilDare :

What I meant was, since when does the term "troll" only apply to FB?

Because they were explaining things to a jury, and juries being made of the general public and all that are probrably quite stupid, so throw in a popular/infamous feature of the internet that gets a lot of press coverage and the jury might understand better. Try not to feel so patronised.

Quote from 5haz :

Because they were explaining things to a jury, and juries being made of the general public and all that are probrably quite stupid, so throw in a popular/infamous feature of the internet that gets a lot of press coverage and the jury might understand better. Try not to feel so patronised.

Fair enough.

Still, damn them! *fist shake*

Hey, is AAnt going to jail too?

Better stop searching for Logitek