TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Author: Trench Reynolds

  • What Craig said today

    What Craig said today

    Prostitutes Using Craigslist To Solicit For Sex:

    This is just another local news article about prostitution being advertised on craigslist. Once again, Craig himself deflects the blame.

    CBS13 went straight to the source in San Francisco to find out why you can find sex for sale, right next to an easy bake oven in Sacramento.

    Pallas: Clearly prostitution is illegal, you know prostitutes are selling sex on your website.
    Craig: There are prostitution ads on our site and people who care flag them and they do get removed but the message from our community overwhelmingly is live and let live message, people’s priorities are elsewhere.

    Craig Newmark makes it clear the user driven, open forum, free speech philosophy behind/foundation of Craigslist puts what the customer wants first and he argues very few are complaining.

    “People tell us to prioritize scammers and we’ve had very few complaints about prostitution…it’s something like one out of every one hundred thousand users or one out of a million,” says Newmark, “I want ’em off our site.”

    So why not shut it down? He sites two major reasons.

    “We wanted to draw away suspect ads from more on conventional sections like women seeking men, another is we wanted to offer legitimate erotic services to people who want them to give people a break,” says Newmark.

    Again, users flag what they suspect is illegal.

    “Right now we have overwhelming feedback from our community. They don’t want us to monitor the site, not in that way. People are happy with the flagging mechanism,” says Newmark.

    Newmark says his company won’t police the site because he might be held legally liable for what people post and he doesn’t want to get sued.

    That’s the bottom line right there. He doesn’t want to get sued. So, rather than worrying about his user base getting robbed, assaulted, or killed, he’s more worried about lining his own pocket.

    So since Craig makes money off of craigslist which provides traffickers with a place to advertise, doesn’t that make him the world’s largest pimp?

  • $30M MySpace lawsuit dismissed

    $30M MySpace lawsuit dismissed

    Suit against Myspace dismissed by judge in Texas:

    Hallelujah. For once, common sense has prevailed. The $30M lawsuit filed against MySpace by the parents of children who were molested by MySpace users has been dismissed.

    U.S. district judge Sam Sparks ruled that MySpace, owned by media giant News Corp., should not be held responsible for what happened. “If anyone had a duty to protect Julie Doe, it was her parents, not MySpace,” he wrote in his decision.

    “Ding ding ding ding, we have a winner”. Of course, the lawyers for the families are going to appeal.

    An attorney for the four families said they plan to appeal the ruling. “The judge’s ruling is flat wrong,” said Jason Itkin, the attorney representing the families. “As the Internet grows and companies like MySpace are aware of the dangers, they need to do things to protect their users, especially young children.”

    Another quote from Mr. Itkin…

    “This is allowing sites like MySpace to avoid the responsibility to make the Internet safe for children,” Jason Itkin said. “MySpace knows its Web site is a playground for sexual predators. Because of that, MySpace should be doing some very basic safety precautions.”

    Sorry, buddy, but MySpace can’t make parents be responsible.

    Personal responsibility wins a rare victory.

    But the war just may be beginning…

    On Wednesday, MySpace announced victory in a Texas lawsuit in which the social networking Web site was accused of failing to protect its underage members from sexual abuse. However, the company’s legal issues are just beginning, according to plaintiff’s lawyer Adam Loewy of Austin, Texas-based Barry & Loewy.

    “We’re at the onset of this sort of litigation,” says Loewy. “We are prepared for a very long battle.”

    The plaintiffs plan to appeal to the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. They also plan to refile some of their claims in Los Angeles Superior Court, adding to similar suits brought against MySpace and its parent company, News Corp.

    More frivolous suits to clog up our already backed up courts.

  • National Archives will not destroy depositions

    National Archives will not destroy depositions

    Archives wants Columbine records here:

    The National Archives have suggested holding the depositions of the Columbine Killers’ parents for 20 years, but after the 20 years, they would unseal the records.

    The agency said that any materials from Columbine given to it would be of significant historical value and would never be destroyed. Archives officials said their general philosophy is open access to records.

    The agency’s proposal was in response to U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock’s suggestion that the Columbine depositions be sent to the National Archives, where they would remain sealed for 25 years.

    Then, Babcock proposed, the National Archives would decide if the depositions are of significant social value. If they are, the agency could release them to the public. If not, they’d be destroyed.

    The National Archives said, however, that after receiving court records, the normal practice of its Denver center is to assume legal custody after 20 years. Then it normally gives the public full access to the records, it said. But if Babcock rules to seal the records for a longer period of time, the agency said it would abide by his wishes.

    That’s better than having them destroyed after 25 years, but still not acceptable. The depositions must be made public, and they must be made public now.

    The Denver Post agrees with me.

    On Monday in Boulder, Del Elliott prepared congressional testimony about stopping violence among teenagers.

    On Monday in Salt Lake City, an 18-year-old hid a shotgun and a pistol under his trench coat and randomly killed five people and seriously wounded four at a shopping mall.

    Are you paying attention, Judge Babcock? Lewis Babcock is the federal jurist who will soon decide whether to seal the civil depositions of the parents of Columbine High School killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold for 25 years.

    Babcock or anyone else who thinks that nothing bad can come from blocking access to those documents for a quarter-century is deaf and blind.

    The Utah shootings didn’t occur in a school. But the trench-coated teenage perp who went on a seemingly casual killing spree reeks of Columbine.

    In 25 years or even 20, the depositions will provide no answers. We need those answers, and we need them now. I’m still puzzled as to why Judge Babcock wants to keep them sealed for a quarter of a century. That’s too long for victims and their families to get answers.

  • NPR on Asperger’s and the Lincoln-Sudbury murder

    NPR on Asperger’s and the Lincoln-Sudbury murder

    Student with Asperger Syndrome Charged in Murder:

    This is a piece from NPR about how much a part Asperger’s Syndrome is playing in the murder of James Alenson by Asperger’s patient John Odgren. What I found interesting about this piece is that some parents of Asperger’s kids are horrified that Odgren’s defense attorney is using Asperger’s as a defense. It’s a very good listen.

    Thanks to Dr. Feste for the link.

  • Supremes request transcription of Kerns Trial

    Supremes request transcription of Kerns Trial

    Judges seek info in Kerns case:

    The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has requested a transcript of the trial of Tobin Kerns before ruling on the matter of whether or not Juvenile Court Judge Louis Coffin can rule his verdict based on a general threats statute rather than a statue regarding threatening to use deadly weapons which is what Kerns was indicted for.

    If Coffin rules based on a general threats statute, the prosecution must prove that the threat was targeted at a specific individual and was communicated to that individual.

    Which to my knowledge it wasn’t.

    Assistant District Attorney Gail McKenna has 14 days to submit a brief explaining why this such an extraordinary circumstance that the Supreme Judicial Court has to intervene. I wonder if the Joe Nee trial will get this kind of scrutiny.

  • NC Attorney General brings the MySpace hate

    NC Attorney General brings the MySpace hate

    Attorney General Pushes For Internet Safeguards:

    I thought that my state of residence would have a little more sense, but that’s what I get for thinking. Add North Carolina to the list of states who are jumping on the blame MySpace Boogeyman bandwagon. Attorney General Roy Cooper has called on sites like MySpace to install age verification or parental notification systems.

    “They lure children onto the site with ads, lull parents into thinking its safe when in reality these children are a mouse click away from porn and predators,” Cooper said.

    That may just be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard come out of a politician’s mouth since “It depends on your definition of ‘is’.”

    He makes it sound like MySpace goes around in a virtual van from computer to computer, offering kids candy. And how do they lull parents into thinking it’s safe? Maybe they lulled you, Mr. Cooper, but not me. Parents shouldn’t be letting their kids have unfettered access to the internet anyway.

    Cooper admits it’s not a perfect system.

    “We know ways kids can get around system, but you can protect most of the kids,” Cooper said.

    You know how you can protect all the kids, Mr. Cooper? By having responsible parents. As usual, I don’t hear you suggesting any laws for that.

  • Release the depositions

    Release the depositions

    Release depositions by Columbine parents:

    This is an opinion piece from The Denver Post about the suggested plan to seal the depositions from the Columbine killers’ parents in the National Archives. I’ll give you just a taste.

    That action may respect the privacy of the killers’ parents, but it would do little to advance the study and public debate about youth violence and how future Columbines could be avoided. It’s also difficult to imagine that the wishes of the killers’ parents should somehow trump the desires of victims’ parents to possibly learn what led to the senseless slaughter of their loved ones.

    I couldn’t have said it better myself. Read the rest as it is definitely worth your time.

  • It’s not a First Amendment issue

    It’s not a First Amendment issue

    One of our favorite attention whores, Danny Leddone, creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG, is going to be a guest speaker tomorrow night at Loyola Marymount University’s First Amendment Week.

    Tuesday will also feature another First Amendment event that will discuss video game violence in St. Robert’s Auditorium at 4 p.m. Participants will have a chance to play the controversial game “Super Columbine Massacre RPG” from 4 to 7 p.m. and listen to the creator of the game, Danny Ledonne from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Ledonne’s game, available on the Internet, reenacts the day of the Columbine shooting through the eyes of the shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Recently, the game was pulled from the Slamdance video game festival due to its controversial content.

    Again, I have to ask why do people keep making this out to be a first amendment issue? The government never said that he couldn’t make his atrocity of a game. The Slamdance Festival is not the government. The people who protested against the game are not the government. Read the following words carefully.

    ONLY IF THE GOVERNMENT SUPPRESSES YOUR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS IT A VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT.

    Learn it, love it, live it.

    Don’t make me say it again.

  • The other killer’s parents want records destroyed

    The other killer’s parents want records destroyed

    2nd Columbine gunman’s family not opposed to sealing records:

    Here’s another shocker. The parents of the other Columbine gunman Dylan Klebold, Thomas, and Susan Klebold, want their depositions destroyed but don’t oppose them being sent to the National Archives for 25 years.

    Thomas and Susan Klebold’s position on the proposal, outlined in a federal court filing, is similar to the wishes of the parents of gunman Eric Harris. The Klebolds said if the judge chooses to send the documents under seal to the National Archives and Records Administration, they would like some information – such as names, addresses – blacked out.

    Hmmm. I wonder whose name and address they want blacked out. Maybe if they didn’t allow their kid to plot one of the most horrific mass murders in American history, then this wouldn’t be an issue.

    The more I write about this story, the more it makes no sense to me whatsoever. Who is Judge Babcock covering up for? JeffCo. Sheriffs or the killers’ parents? He shouldn’t be covering up for either. The decent thing to do would be to give the victims’ families the answers they’ve been seeking. Unsealing the depositions would accomplish that.

  • 2007 SAFE Act

    2007 SAFE Act

    Senator to propose surveillance of illegal images:

    Senators McCain and Schumer are at it again. Not being happy with trying to legislate MySpace, they’re now trying to force ISP’s and websites that have any kind of user base to notify the authorities of any illegal images of real or “cartoon” minors.

    It’s called the Securing Adolescents from Exploitation-Online Act, otherwise known as the 2007 SAFE Act. Because as I’ve mentioned before, no legislation works unless it has a catchy acronym.

    Now, don’t get me wrong. I am in no way defending child pornographers. However, I think this proposed law would do more harm than good and will be almost impossible to enforce. Not only that, but the bill only offers suggestions and doesn’t offer any solutions about how the ISP’s should handle these issues…

    Details on how the system would work are missing from McCain’s legislation and are left to the center and ISPs. But one method would include ISPs automatically scanning e-mail and instant messaging attachments and flagging any matches.

    Wow, that doesn’t sound like government intrusion, does it? Not only that, but the cost passed on to ISP’s would be astronomical and would more than likely be passed on to the consumer.

    Existing laws regarding child pornography are sufficient. Extra legislation is not going to make them go away overnight, and will only get innocent people in trouble. We’ve already heard stories of people being arrested for taking innocent pictures of their own children. If this law is passed, there will be more of that.

    Thanks to Aaron for the link.