MUD2MMO: The ‘Suggestion’ – Loopholes, Online Harassment, and the Law

When you tell me to go kill myself, oh yes, it's personal.

A few weeks ago, while livestreaming, a player told me to kill myself. That got me thinking: legally speaking, what happened?

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So this week, we talk about it.

First of all, my apologies for posting the video like this.  YouTube is being difficult this week, and won’t let me embed the show as normal.  So I’m doing so through blip.tv 

The YouTube version is here if you prefer it this way:

 Sources:

Livestream source: http://www.twitch.tv/tyger_wdr/c/2863578

Justin Pillault article: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/352702/josh-pillault-original-justin-carter-charles-c-w-cooke

Justin Carter article: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/02/tech/social-media/facebook-threat-carter/index.html?iref=allsearch

League of Legends video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugXC7g3p0JU

Wisconsin Legislature 947.013: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/947/013

Minnesota Assisted Suicide laws: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=609.215

William Melchert-Dinkel sentenced for encouraging suicides: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8493861/Former-nurse-William-Melchert-Dinkel-sentenced-to-prison-for-encouraging-suicide-online.html

Man arrested for assaulting teen over CoD game: http://www.newsytype.com/12172-man-chokes-teen-call-of-duty/

World of Warcraft stabbing: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/world-of-warcraft-stabbing-jordan-osborne_n_1671234.html

Death Sentence for online gamer: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-06/08/content_449494.htm

James Swan chokes Mom over WoW: http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/02/james_swan_chokes_mom_smashes.php

Plague of game dev harassment: http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/15/4622252/plague-of-game-dev-harassment-erodes-industry-spurs-support-groups

“The Psychology of Cyberspace”: http://users.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/psycyber.html


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Author
TygerWDR
I'm a gamer. I'm a reality junkie. I'm a cynic. I'm a dinosaur. I'm a writer. I'm so much more than a paragraph can say. You want more? Ok. I started a video game show on the internet some time ago. See, I've played video games since Intellivision and Atari 2600 and PONG back in the day. Retro-gaming doesn't really fire me up as much as seeing how the community ticks. And after seeing way too many "I'm too young to have played this game when it first came out but it MAKES ME SO ANGRY" reviewers who would happily eviscerate my childhood for lulz... yeah I tossed my hat into the ring. the quickly scooped it back up, I'm told I have a bald spot that needs covering. Outside of gaming... yes I go outside shut up... I like to play paintball when I can. I snowboard a lot, when I can. I go mountain biking, when I can... seeing a trend yet? I prefer reality to video games, but at 4 AM it's hard to find a paintball game going on. Lately I livestream a lot, playing video games for an audience.