Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

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Winnow
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Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Winnow »

Glad I don't troll!

http://gizmodo.com/5898585/itll-soon-be ... in-arizona
Trolling Could Get You 25 Years in Jail in Arizona

One of the Internet's basic tenets—the right to be as much of a myopic, infantile asshat as humanly possible—is currently under attack in Arizona. A sweeping update to the state's telecommunications harrasment bill could make naughty, angry words a Class 1 misdemeanor. Or worse.

It's a dangerous precedent, yet another bill written and supported by legislators who fundamentally don't understand the nature of the internet. And I'm not just being a, well, you know.

Arizona House Bill 2549 passed both legislative houses last Thursday and is now awaiting approval from Arizona's governor Brewer. The statute states that:

"It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, to use a ANY ELECTRONIC OR DIGITAL DEVICE and use any obscene, lewd or profane language or suggest any lewd or lascivious act, or threaten to inflict physical harm to the person or property of any person."

Emphasis added. If the electronic devices and means are employed to stalk a victim, the penalty bumps up to a Class 3 felony.

For those not intimately familiar with Arizona penal law, a Class 1 misdemeanor is punishable by a $250,000 fine and up to six months in jail (it's the most aggressive misdemeanor charge the state can bring). A Class 3 felony, meanwhile, carries a minimum sentence of 2.5 years for non-dangerous offenders with no prior record. And a max of 25 years in jail.

Opponents of the bill argue that the wording is overly broad and could easily be interpreted to include not just one-on-one communications but public forums like 4Chan, Reddit, and anywhere else that allows commenting. You thought the banhammer was bad? Try handcuffs.

It could also have a chilling effect on free speech by prohibiting shocking or "profane" language online. And since the bill stipulates that the offense only has to occur on Arizona soil (since a Facebook comment is definitely a geographic place, right?) that basically puts the entire Internet on notice.

The bill's supporters argue that the steps are necessary to prevent online bullying. Despite the public outcry, the bill has seen very little resistance from elected officials. However, given how well Arizona's other recent, short-lived, and generally draconian propositions—-including its racial profiling, anti-gay adoption, and anti-immigration bills—-have fared, House Bill 2549 might not be a law for long, assuming Governor Brewer even signs it.

In the mean time, feel free to leave your thoughts on the matter on Brewer's Facebook page. You know, while it's still legal. [Arizona State House of Reps via CBLDF]
Fairweather Pure
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Fairweather Pure »

If you trolling and Mexican you are shot on sight.
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by miir »

Fairweather Pure wrote:If you trolling and Mexican you are shot on sight.
ELECTRONICALLY!
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Winnow »

And since the bill stipulates that the offense only has to occur on Arizona soil (since a Facebook comment is definitely a geographic place, right?) that basically puts the entire Internet on notice.
That means you too Canadians! My state protects me from cyber bullying!

AZ is just plain horrible for politics. (and Joe Arpaio)
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Jice Virago »

Arizona is the Alabama of the West.
War is an option whose time has passed. Peace is the only option for the future. At present we occupy a treacherous no-man's-land between peace and war, a time of growing fear that our military might has expanded beyond our capacity to control it and our political differences widened beyond our ability to bridge them. . . .

Short of changing human nature, therefore, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war.
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Funkmasterr »

This just in, winnow indicted on 9235 misdemeanor counts of Internet trolling.
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Winnow
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Winnow »

Funkmasterr wrote:This just in, winnow indicted on 9235 misdemeanor counts of Internet trolling.

If I go, you're all going down with me! The "offense" just has to take place on Arizona soil, which makes no sense at all since everything's virtual. If this goes nationwide, suppose if you reside wherever Veeshanvault's server is, you're screwed!
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Knarlz »

Arizona is indeed redneck evil in many ways.
In 2008 Gilbert Arizona snagged about $250k in homeland security $ to buy a high tech device to track/record dial in/out # anyones cell phone without bothering with those pesky warents and such. dosn't record the call though.

http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012 ... telco-help

It's not just Arizona though. for 4-5 years, if you have the bucks, you can track locations and phone numbers of in/out calls of any cell phone, not turned off, in real time.

Should hit US courts soon.

"Pricey 'stingray' gadget lets cops track cellphones without telco help

Why would the well-heeled suburb of Gilbert, Ariz., spend a quarter of a million dollars on a futuristic spy gadget that sounds more at home in a prime-time drama than a local police department?

The ACLU caused a stir Monday with its extensive report of cellphone surveillance by local police departments, which routinely request location information and other data from cellphone providers, often under vague legal circumstances........."
Pride of nationality depends not on ignorance of other nations, but on ignorance of one's own.
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Sueven »

Law sounds unconstitutional in almost all circumstances. Obscenity, as a technical legal term, is a very narrow category. Most profanity doesn't qualify. First Amendment protects your right to be a profane asshole unless you cross into "obscenity" or unless you are legitimately creating some kind of dangerous condition or the like by doing so.

If anybody bothers enforcing this as it's written, the lawyers will have a field day. There are already all kinds of lawsuits in cases where folks have been arrested for cursing in real life.
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Asheran Mojomaster »

Jice Virago wrote:Arizona is the Alabama of the West.

Please don't compare Alabama and Arizona. Alabama is a bit backwards in some ways...but it is miles ahead of Arizona.
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Spang »

Asheran Mojomaster wrote:Please don't compare Alabama and Arizona. Alabama is a bit backwards in some ways...but it is miles ahead of Arizona.
Alabama's anti-immigration law is much worse and far more draconian than Arizona's.
Make love, fuck war, peace will save us.
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Re: Jailtime for trolling in Arizona

Post by Drolgin Steingrinder »

Arizona: The person that Harry belongs to.
IT'S HARD TO PUT YOUR FINGER ON IT; SOMETHING IS WRONG
I'M LIKE THE UNCLE WHO HUGGED YOU A LITTLE TOO LONG
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