Victims turn table on internet troll, win $1.4 million civil award
20 replies, posted
[t]http://i.imgur.com/ixbbnB3.jpg[/t]
[url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/victims-turn-table-on-internet-troll-wins-13-million-verdict/2016/11/03/a2e5c098-a1df-11e6-8d63-3e0a660f1f04_story.html[/url]
[quote]William Moreno said the campaign of Internet trolling he and his family endured was as vicious as it was unrelenting. A SWAT team was sent to their Virginia home, false charges were filed against him and he was accused online of molesting a girl.
The “reign of terror,” as he described it, was so bad that Moreno said he eventually tried to take his own life. Now, he and his family have finally turned the tables on one of the men they accused of tormenting them, winning a $1.4 million civil judgment in court.
The ruling by a Loudoun County jury late last month is one of the largest in an Internet trolling case in the nation’s history. The family doubts it will ever collect the full sum but hopes the verdict is a warning to cyberbullies everywhere.[/quote]
Well if they made shit up about him to ruin his life then that's libel/slander, and thus he is owed restitution.
They'll get a settlement at least. It seems when these cases go to court they like to make examples out of them.
[quote]A SWAT team was sent to their Virginia home, false charges were filed against him and he was accused online of molesting a girl.[/quote]
it isn't just trolling at that point
[quote]In May 2014, the lawsuit asserted, Loudoun County sheriff’s deputies showed up at the Moreno home with guns drawn after someone posted a chilling — but false — message on Fairfax Underground under William’s name that read in part: “I JUST SHOT MY PARENTS NOW I WILL KILL MY SISTER.”[/quote]
There needs to be harsher punishments for people that put others into situations where a police force is led to believe an innocent person is currently trying to murder someone, because the obvious expectation is that they could kill that person
He looks like the stereotypical neckbeard, but good on him and his family.
I'd buy a Tesla Model X in a heartbeat.
I think the media should stop referring to instances of serious online harassment, like swatting etc, as "trolling".
Trolling is generally dumb and mean-spirited but- ultimately lighthearted and harmless. Whereas this kind of thing can ruin people's lives.
[QUOTE=Perrine;51304822]it isn't just trolling at that point[/QUOTE]
One of the reasons why I hate the word troll to describe situations like this is because it devalues the situation. This isn't trolling, this is straight up harassment.
Same goes for other ridiculous words like "cyber bully" or "bullying". Yeah, stalking someone and then pouring gasoline on them and threatening to light them on fire is just "bullying".
[QUOTE=GhillieBacca;51304852]He looks like the stereotypical neckbeard, but good on him and his family.
I'd buy a Tesla Model X in a heartbeat.[/QUOTE]
good luck collecting on that
That is not trolling anymore,its a goddamn harassment.
I hope that asshole learned his lesson.
When did "trolling" become not "being an annoying fuck for the sake of humor" and become "harassment and death threats"??
[QUOTE=Kylel999;51306202]When did "trolling" become not "being an annoying fuck for the sake of humor" and become "harassment and death threats"??[/QUOTE]
When one of the meanings of literally became figuratively, I'm guessing.
[QUOTE=pentium;51304816]They'll get a settlement at least. It seems when these cases go to court they like to make examples out of them.[/QUOTE]
Did you even read the post? They won a civil judgement, they don't need a settlement.
Calling this trolling is just the site trying to get more clicks, there's a big difference between baiting for replies on the internet and trying to get people killed using a SWAT team.
The comments make this article even more extreme.
[quote]From an earlier article: "Mr. Misery (Moreno) displayed quirky humor but also contributed offensive comments about child molestation and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks...Mr. Misery was banned from the forum in January 2012 for flooding it with messages, but William Moreno continued to post under other usernames." This is his parents' idea of "socializing?" Being mildly autistic doesn't excuse trolling, and sometimes when you troll, you offend an even bigger, much more terrible troll. I'm hoping Mr. Moreno learned that his behavior is problematic and may have unintended consequences, but judging from his mother's angry responses to comments below, I doubt it.[/quote]
Combine this with these two comments:
[quote]Didn't William Moreno and his witness/accomplice Monique Wells relentlessly stalk Michael Basl as well? Didn't they go to Richmond and take photos of his house and themselves in Basl's backyard? Wasn't William Moreno caught by security cameras stalking another user's home?[/quote]
and
[quote]The Morenos were successful because they had the financial means to hire a law firm and sue an unemployed community college student. Basl was forced to represent himself in court and predictably lost. The Morenos' lawyers were able to keep most of the evidence out of the trial. Moreno himself did all the same things to Basl that he accused Basl of doing to him.[/quote]
So you end up with two social recluses that shit-posted on a forum, both probably did some weird actions that should've let to them both getting a time-out in prison, but ended up with only one of them getting in trouble.
[QUOTE=Oscar Lima Echo;51306291]Did you even read the post? They won a civil judgement, they don't need a settlement.[/QUOTE]
He's saying that, even though they won 1.4 million dollars, its highly unlikely that the person they've sued [I]has[/I] that much - the high amount is to make an example of the harasser. They'll likely settle for much less in the end.
SWAT'ing is a crime and is not trolling. Lets not attempt to blur the line between them.
[QUOTE=Code3Response;51307532]SWAT'ing is a crime and is not trolling. Lets not attempt to blur the line between them.[/QUOTE]
Most people do SWAT-ing because they are trolling.
[QUOTE=fulgrim;51304859]I think the media should stop referring to instances of serious online harassment, like swatting etc, as "trolling".
Trolling is generally dumb and mean-spirited but- ultimately lighthearted and harmless. Whereas this kind of thing can ruin people's lives.[/QUOTE]
But trolling makes it sound monstrous and evil. The most sensationalist term will ALWAYS be used until the meaning is skewed to mean every bad thing related to the internet.
[QUOTE=fulgrim;51304859]I think the media should stop referring to instances of serious online harassment, like swatting etc, as "trolling".
Trolling is generally dumb and mean-spirited but- ultimately lighthearted and harmless. Whereas this kind of thing can ruin people's lives.[/QUOTE]
It's not a black-and-white issue.
[QUOTE=Quark:;51307487]He's saying that, even though they won 1.4 million dollars, its highly unlikely that the person they've sued [I]has[/I] that much - the high amount is to make an example of the harasser. They'll likely settle for much less in the end.[/QUOTE]
No, a settlement isn't the same as settling of less money.
A settlement is an agreement to stop pursuing a case in exchange for something else, usually a hefty sum.
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