Dusty the Cat

As usual, while I’m strapped to my laptop for class assignments, whether my actual goal is compiling legislative histories (yessssss so ‘engrossed’), or maybe finding SEC filings for PepsiCo, I multitask and see what’s happening on the intertubes. It’s that or I fall asleep.

There’s one phenomenon in particular that fascinates me – internet users who at one time merely produced memes, but now pursue a kind of internet troll vigilantism. For the uninitiated, let me define some terms first:

Internet Memes: A catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an inside joke. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although this concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information. For example, LOLcats, the Hamster Dance, RickRolling.

Internet Troll: These are folks between the ages of 15-35 who are on the web a whole lot. A whole lot. They post to a variety of link aggregator websites/forums/chatrooms. The topics are usually prurient and NSFW. Activities include Photoshopping of pictures, gross out/shock humor and conspiracy theorizing. They use a distinct set of internet slang and dialect not too dissimilar from any other slang system used by other subcultures.

That’s a pretty cursory overview. The point is is that there’s a widespread and pervasive internet culture that the masses  are unaware of because, well, it’s pretty damn nerdy and below the radar. I suppose that’s why it’s a subculture. Besides that, who’d own up to knowing the difference between the LOLLZ and the LULLZ or the fine variation between !! and !!!1!.  Maybe I just did. This all seems particularly ridiculous to people who remember a time before Google (B.G. and A.G.).

In any case, during the past year or so, this subculture has been congealing at the edges. There’s been a kind of increasing uniformity and coherence. The latest trend is that this culture gets a kick out of causing benign mayhem outside web forums, and engaging in a kind of privacy shattering vigilantism.

You see, sometimes there are wrongdoers in the real world who get caught in the act, yielding a great amount of web-indignation. The latest example is this serial killer in training who beat the crap out of a cat and posted the video on Youtube. Within 24 hours the internet community figured out who the kid is, where he lives, where he goes to school, who his parents are and other vital information, all posted on a website (probably not safe for work). Once he was identified, the local media and police were bombarded with phone calls and emails, resulting in the kid’s arrest tonight.

But because I’m primarily a law school nerd (there is no escape), I thought man, this has the makings of a  good law (review) article.  I doubt the common law is currently equipped to deal with issues stemming from instantaneous, aberrant social interaction on a massive scale. The web provides anonymity on the one hand, destroys personal privacy on the other, gives anyone a megaphone, removes all kinds of consequences and liabilities, and makes the dissemination of information completely fluid.

The convergence of privacy rights, First Amendment concerns, jurisdictional issues etc. with regard to the web,  as far as I know, have yet to be addressed. And so I wonder, what if an individual is harassed by thousands of people who are all linked to a few websites?  I suppose the easiest thing to do is to go after the website proprietor, but is it really their fault? Who’s culpable in a situation like that under existing laws? (See for example the Megan Meier case). How flexible are privacy torts when it comes to this?

I do think we’ll slowly start to see new causes of action that are specifically tailored for the internet. It’ll be interesting to see how that body of law evolves. I’m very much unaware of any of it because, well, I’m stalking Coca Cola’s balance sheet right now for Tax and Accounting.

Sidenote: While I’m glad the cat beating child has been apprehended, aren’t there more egregious things that the combined powers of web lurkers could address? Just saying.