Below are the most recent 1 friends' journal entries.

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
catlin	2:08p	Freedom of speech vs internet trolls "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." No where in here does it say anything about slander, true... but our forefathers would never have concidered that they would need to make an exception for spreading lies. (yes, people did it, but there was quite significant open public censure against it when you were cought) Culturally, when they were writing this, it was just not publicly acceptable to do so. It was about being able to speak against the government safely. About being able to stand up and protect your family and the dream that was America. They didn't write the Constitution for internet idiocy, because the internet wasn't even a dream yet. Even then though the first ammendment does not promise you can say anything you like sans consequences. It says there won't be laws against speaking. There is no law saying that I have to allow you in my house, when you have said I was a bad person. The same goes for any private business, be it a restraunt, a movie theatre, or a website. If someone does not like what someone says about them, even if you say it somewhere that is not their property, they have a right to not deal with that party, including banning them from a website or a chat. This is private property not public. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This does not mean one party has more right to happiness then another. The courts have clearly ruled that when your persuit of happiness is done at the expense of another person's happiness, you no longer have a free right to do so. You can't steal your neighbors tv, because you really want that model, you can't kill your neighbor, because you just really don't like them, or because they made you sad. You also don't have a right to lie and be abusive to one person, in order to make yourself somehow look better. Current Mood: contemplative
come down now