By OUT-LAW.COM
Published Tuesday 10th January 2006 16:27 GMT

An Ohio man who claims that he was humiliated by two other participants in an AOL chatroom has sued the two men for causing emotional distress and the ISP for failing to stop the alleged abuse, according to a report from Law.com.

The case, which is due for a hearing in an Ohio court today, is said to be the first of its kind.

According to Law.com, Medina County resident George Gillespie sued Mike Marlowe of Alabama and Bob Charpentier of Oregon after the two men began teasing him online.

Reports suggest that the teasing then ventured out of the chat room and into the real world, with Marlowe travelling from Alabama to Ohio in order to disrupt Gillespie’s mail service by handing a change-of-address form into a post office.

Other reports suggest that Gillespie was himself indulging in a little “banter” in the chatroom, making fun of Charpentier’s girlfriend, and posting a picture of Charpentier’s home online.

"This guy is just a character, and his BS finally caught up with him," Charpentier told the Akron Beacon Journal. "This lawsuit is just another form of harassment."

"I'm so flabbergasted with this because this has been blown out of proportion," Marlowe told Law.com. "We just made fun of the guy."

AOL has not commented on the action, other than to point out that it has a code of conduct governing the behaviour of its members, and that this is strictly enforced.

Commentators are sceptical as to the likely success of the action.

In the US, ISPs such as AOL are generally immune from liability under a provision in the Communications Decency Act which grants immunity from suit to those who provide material on the internet that was written by others. While most of the Communications Decency Act has been struck down as unconstitutional, this provision survives.

It is also very difficult to show that postings online have caused harm.

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I do agree with that. I'd like to think his intentions are for justice but I'm thinking, yea, it's a money thing. Just don't mess with people.

That is bulls***. I have been harrassed worse than that online. You gotta take it like a man and fight back, and not be a little b**** and go crying to the courts.

I have a feeling this is going to relate to the thread talking about the new law that was passed saying anonymous Internet harrassment is a federal crime.

--Jon

Anonymous harrassment...lawsuits over humiliation? Has no one noticed the X in the top right hand corner? Hell, it's easier to avoid everything on the internet than in the normal face-to-face world......you choose not to click out, then you're just waiting to get slammed.....

^Exactly Nyx. All he had to do was leave the chatroom. This is just another example of greed. He saw an opportunity to try and get some money and he has taken it.

And how did these guys in Alabama (or whatever) get his home address to fill out the change of address card? He was giving out his home address in the chat room? He DESERVES to be made fun of then.

Awww... poor baby... someone made fun of him on the internet. AOL Chatrooms are always a hassle... it's not even worth it going there. You get a billion and one pop ups for free webcams and it's annoying setup. I can't believe he is sueing over this... gawd... what a dork.

I agree with Purplos, the guy was asking for it if he gave out his address.

I second that opinion. Lessen requested, lesson learned.

What can I say? Some people need a life. Did they call him a n00b?

What a joke! A poor excuse of a "chatter". LOL

This is the crap that's ruining our judicial system. friggen cry baby!

watch it, you might get sued

This guy is sad and pathetic... and anonymous internet harrassment?... a federal crime?...why do the whiners always make the world a worse place to live in?

I'll let this be a lesson to me. If this became the norm, I'd have a massive bill on my hands.

While I agree that it's somewhat childish and over the top, for all we know the person could have been emotionally frail. In which case, things you would normally shrug off and wouldn't take notice of, could cause some harm.

Then why was the guy on there in the first place did he think the world was going to open up its arms and say " hello " WELL GET TO REALITY the world ain't gonna be nice to u Heck if it was i would of caught a Bigfoot by now and would be rich BUT AM I NOOOOOO!!!


that guy is a trying to make $$$$$