Ive thought about this article for a few days before I decided to make a post.
First and foremost Im not in any way condoning the threats made by anyone. Honestly, the idea that anyone can think that kind of behavior is without conscience is surely in for a shock when an enterprising district attorney decides to prosecute.
Its not going to take much for someone to label the operators of the sites as accomplices (depending on how vigorously the sites are policed), so the owners of social networking sites (of all kinds) should pay head to this fact, because this is not something thats going to go away unless the perpetrators of these crimes are punished. Weve already seen one parent go through a lengthy trial over a myspace incident and another high profile case is pending against an adult who allegedly posted a false prostitution advertisement about a nine year old girl. Its my belief that this is only going to become worse as time goes on.
The professors actions are not all that great in my view. Im willing to bet that initially it was clearly explained to him that his behavior was not welcomed (the article said as much). The crux is that he knew that what he was doing was irritating the community. Ask yourself if he would behave in antisocial activity outside of the virtual world. If his maturity level is as high as I would hope a person with a professorship would have, he would have known a basic rule of life. simply because you can do something does not mean you should. My children know this rule of life, and they clearly understand its implications. So Im not buying into his wounded duck pleas. You reap what you sow.
So who wins? Unfortunately, nobody wins. Social sites will become heavy handed as miniscule comments are construed as objectionable, resulting in the ban hammer
