Saturday, September 22, 2007

Banned from the Internet?

This item from the CHE is bizarre:

After a college student was found harassing (indeed, threatening) a fellow student via e-mail, a judge ordered him to stay away from her and her friends. But the judge went a step further, telling the student that he is not allowed on the Internet at all...

Where to begin here? First, the easy criticism from practicality -- how will this ban on Internet usage be enforced? With even minimal technical savvy the kid will find his way onto the Internet -- or simply use the Internet via a friend's account/login/etc.

But aside from that issue, on the principle of the matter, this judge's decision is insane. The judge has clearly gone far beyond a just punishment for this individual, and is clearly thereby violating this person's rights. For one thing, email is just one part of the Internet. This would be like someone stalking someone else in the real world, say by driving by their house constantly and yelling nasty things or whatever. This judge would apparently not just put a restaining order on such a person requiring them to stay away from that house -- he would take away the stalkers driver's license altogether. Further, because driving is just one mode of transportation, he'd apparently bar the stalker from flying, taking trains, riding his bike, and so on.

Surely this aspect of the decision will be tossed out on appeal... I hope!

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