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- This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 2 months ago by PolarBearNPR.
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January 30, 2008 at 3:17 am #28229AwesomeSauceParticipant
Recently I had a small dispute with my mother. To clarify, yes, it was really not that big of a deal and no one even raised their voice. But nonetheless, we had a dispute about something and it made me raise some questions in my mind.
The subject of her concern? A single, relatively small post on my blog. To emphasize: There was nothing obviously offensive. There was no illegal content or anything adult. There was nothing hateful or even remotely rude. (Although it might have been just a little bit rude, depending on how you read it).
With that in mind, she simply didn’t appreciate it. And although it wasn’t a huge argument, she actually did get quite serious and assertive about it following a request to remove the content.
I did happen to (temporarily) take it off simply for respect. But from the deep recesses of my mind, I believed that I could simply leave the site unchanged. I could just keep it the way I intended, and although she might have been very angry, she couldn’t have done a single damn thing about it.
It’s my website. I pay for it. I run it. I administrate it. I provide the content for it. Would she really have had no control over it?
Before I go any further, here’s another critical aspect that might change things: I am under 18 years of age. As far as I know, in the United States of America, your parents no longer have legal control over you once you turn 18.
Now you know that I am not yet 18 years old, let me ask you again: What actions could my mom legally take if I decided not to change my website according to her request? As I said, she has absolutely no relation to my online domain in itself and she doesn’t even have a good amount of computer literacy, let alone the means to access my site with administrator privileges.
I’m guessing that there’s a simple answer to this problem, but I can’t help but wonder. If I had some kind of lawyer nearby who knew about these things I would probably ask them, but instead, I am curious to see your response. Thanks.
January 30, 2008 at 5:56 am #166629DavidParticipantIf it was slander towards your mother, or a particular person, they could raise charges on grounds of deformation of character and the likes.
Assuming it was generalized, there isn’t anything anyone (including your mother) could do. That’s part of the beauty of the US Constitution an the Bill of Rights, even though they apply differently when you are under 18 (sort of).
I’m not a lawyer, but I dabble on the side, and I’m relatively confident that she can’t do anything, unless the content was slander or deformation of character.
January 30, 2008 at 6:07 am #166628Jeff HesterKeymasterAlthough what you posted was probably not illegal (can’t really say, since you weren’t specific and I’m not a lawyer), but it may have been unethical and/or inappropriate. The measure of “appropriateness” is subjective; it lies exclusively in the eye of the beholder. The measure of ethics generally follows established societal norms, which can vary from one location to the next.
When a post concerns or offends someone you know personally, you also have to consider whether it’s worth harming a relationship over your “journalistic integrity” and freedom of speech.
Choose your battles wisely. 😉
January 30, 2008 at 9:49 pm #166630AwesomeSauceParticipantNo, Dave, it was not deformation of character, nor was it slander. And Jeff, I’m certain that it wasn’t illegal.
I had written about my dismay of how I had to miss school and some other things in order to attend my grandfather’s funeral. Of course, my mom over exaggerated this completely, and got the idea that I have little or no respect for my grandpa (which is not true).
Anyway, thanks for the thoughts. Don’t worry that I would actually go so far as to do any of this and make a big issue out of it. 🙂 Just curious is all. Thanks.
January 30, 2008 at 10:31 pm #166632PolarBearNPRParticipantDitto what Jeff said; but also because I know you’re this kind of guy, Exodus 20:12. But you didn’t need me to tell you that now, did you?
January 31, 2008 at 12:11 am #166631AstrocatParticipantAwesome there are sites out there that have worse content than what you are describing to us. Even if you did have something on it your site would of been closed and your hosting company would of emailed your isp and they would of disconnected you long before now but that hasnt happend. Even if the site was taken down for something silly nothing might happen i mean i know of sites that are still on line that should be closed down but are still running on a public domain.
And depending on the crime the police would of came out and arrested you within 24 hours but im not sure how long it takes them to trace people and have them arrested anyone know about that process. I do know theres a huge ammount of paperwork involved and that they have to go to court to get your information but i seriously dought a judge or the police would go threw pages of website content just to gather evidence over something as small or trivial as that.
Now that i think of it wont this cost hundreads of or thousands of dollars pounds for the hosting company to want to sue you for abusing there service but im sure they would of banned you from going on it again.
Its like someone saying im going to have you arrested for posting on a forum over the internet. it doesnt work the way you think they have to go to a judge and its upto the judge what action should be taken. Even if the police wanted to get involved with your hosting company and have your website taken down if any law was broken you would of been arrested by your police force.
I wouldnt worry because regardless of what you post it can be removed without the need for any legal action. If its something sick, threatening or dangerous then thats a different story.
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