Man gets sent to prison for being a troll.

[tk_saturn]

I had to post this.

Jade Goody website 'troll' from Manchester jailed

Colm Coss's activities were uncovered when he posted photos of himself to neighbours

An "internet troll" who posted obscene messages on Facebook sites set up in memory of dead people has been jailed.

Colm Coss, of Ardwick, Manchester, posted on a memorial page for Big Brother star Jade Goody and a tribute site to John Paul Massey, a Liverpool boy mauled to death by a dog.

The 36-year-old "preyed on bereaved families" for his "own pleasure", Manchester Magistrates Court heard.

He was jailed for 18 weeks for sending "malicious communications".

The posts included comments claiming he had sex with the victims' dead bodies, the court heard.

Mental health

He was charged under the Communications Act 2003, for sending malicious communications that were grossly offensive.

Unemployed Coss was only caught when he sent residents on his street photos of himself saying he was an internet "troll".

One of the residents passed the photos to police who interviewed him before he eventually admitted to posting abusive messages.

The term "troll" was described in court as someone who creates new identities on Facebook accounts and then posts numerous offensive comments to upset or provoke a reaction from others.

Chairwoman of the bench Pauline Salisbury said: "You preyed on bereaved families who were suffering trauma and anxiety.

"We know you gained pleasure and you aren't sorry for what you did."

The defence raised possible mental health issues but they were dismissed by the bench.

Source

This is the subsection of the Communications Act 2003, which is Law in the United Kingdom. It's the same Act which covers stealing a neighbours WiFi.
Communications Act 2003127 Improper use of public electronic communications network E+W+S+N.I.[*]A person is guilty of an offence if he—[*]sends by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character; or[*]causes any such message or matter to be so sent.[*]A person is guilty of an offence if, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another, he—[*]sends by means of a public electronic communications network, a message that he knows to be false,[*]causes such a message to be sent; or[*]persistently makes use of a public electronic communications network.[*]A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.
[*]Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to anything done in the course of providing a programme service (within the meaning of the Broadcasting Act 1990 (c. 42)).

"Level 5" is £5,000.

 

[basher11]

sick bastard. he should have gotten more time in jail.

 

[chartube12]

You beter watch out, better not troll. I'm telling why, The police are coming tonight...

Sry couldn't resist

 

[Schizoanalysis]

Fantastic precedent!

I just hope thre prison system can keep up with all the trolls on the internet...

 

[monkat]

I remember back in my day, we had this thing that the Government insured for us, in exchange for citizenship and tax dollars...

What was it, again?....Damn...twas in the first amendment, anyway.
Oh. Britain. Whatever.

Was what he did right? No! Not by any means!
Was what he did a threat to public safety? No!
Did he cause anything but (admittedly foolishly placed - silly evolution) hurt feelings? No!

...Why is this happening?

 

[_Chaz_]

Someone should kill him, and then not post on Facebook about it.

 

[Vulpes Abnocto]

We're gonna need a LOOOOTTTTT more jails.

 

[ChuckBartowski]

That definition of troll seems accurate.....

 

[Verttech4]

That was very...disturbing and would be the kind of people that the world DOESN'T need. Its sad how people do change and are unique but these behaviors are not expected. I would rather feel better if he was in jail longer, even tho the victims are dead, respecting the dead is also a factor. >.> I hope they haunt him

 

[Pliskron]

Well you can be a troll if you know the law. It's illegal to create and hide behind a false identity. The funny thing is, if he did that under his own name at least in the US he at most would have had civil liability at most but nothing criminal. It's a good thing he was so stupid.

 

[KingVamp]

I remember back in my day, we had this thing that the Government insured for us, in exchange for citizenship and tax dollars...

What was it, again?....Damn...twas in the first amendment, anyway.
Oh. Britain. Whatever.

Was what he did right? No! Not by any means!
Was what he did a threat to public safety? No!
Did he cause anything but (admittedly foolishly placed - silly evolution) hurt feelings? No!

...Why is this happening?

This is a form of harassment, which is illegal and there the Communications Act 2003 mention in the article.

So you wouldn't care if this was done to you?

 

[Sephxus]

He was not only a troll, but a complete idiot.

 

[craplame]

Ugh, he's a disgusting person. I hope he gets what's coming to him. :-/

 

[injected11]

I don't think I'd wish death on him, but I'd certainly kick him square in the balls. Hard. And probably several times.

 

[lolzed]

He should be flamed.Literally.

 

[Demonstryde]

1. sounds to me like facebook has an issue with him .. not any court.. anyone who seriously thinks this man should be jailed for anything said on the internet needs to go lick their finger and stick it in the power box nearest them while holding their offspring (if they were unfortunate enough to have any) because we have a thing called freedom of speech.. and artistic creation...

2. if the things said were offensive to you ,you have just as much to write back or not look at the post as he has as much right to post it..


3. i eat every aborted fetus (lock me up bitch) with a side of black market organs blendered up into a protien shake.


4. if this was offensive to you .. i dare you to try to get me anything but kicked off this site.

 

[Rydian]

I remember back in my day, we had this thing that the Government insured for us, in exchange for citizenship and tax dollars...

What was it, again?....Damn...twas in the first amendment, anyway.

The first amendment protects political speech, this is most certainly NOT political speech (nor is pretty much anything people cry "first amendment" for).



Before anybody makes any claim about what's illegal and what's not, and what laws say what, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GO LOOK THEM UP AND READ THEM.

You all should know this by now with me being a regular poster here.

 

[Pliskron]

*snip

1. it's not illegal for me to say all kinds of defamatory things about you however I could be held civilly liable.

2. It's completely illegal as it should be for me to pretend to be you for the purpose of damaging your reputation.

3. Freedom of speech protects offensive speech but assuming another identity is a criminal act as it should be.

4. So have fun eating aborted fetus but just make sure not to hide behind a phony identity while you carry out your grim meal.

QUOTE(monkat @ Oct 30 2010, 07:41 PM) I remember back in my day, we had this thing that the Government insured for us, in exchange for citizenship and tax dollars...

What was it, again?....Damn...twas in the first amendment, anyway.

The first amendment protects political speech, this is most certainly NOT political speech (nor is pretty much anything people cry "first amendment" for).



Before anybody makes any claim about what's illegal and what's not, and what laws say what, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GO LOOK THEM UP AND READ THEM.

You all should know this by now with me being a regular poster here.

The supreme court has ruled art, parody, and even pornography are covered by the first amendment. Rent the people vs Larry Flint. The first amendment and case law cover all speech except in the most extraordinary circumstances. Even flag burning was ruled protected speech by the high court. Speech that was meant to intimidate other and infringe on their civil rights is not protected. The cross burning case comes to mind.

 

[Rydian]

The supreme court has ruled art, parody, and even pornography are covered by the first amendment.

Parody's when it comes to freedom of speech versus copyright law (not the case here), and as for pornography and violence ("art" could be any category), those come with enforced ratings and warnings beforehand.


EDIT: Damn typo.

 

[heavyknight]

Sweet, now if only they could do more to trolls. The internet is one troll cleaner, at least.