A lawsuit against MySpace may go forward. A judgment is pending in an Appeals Court. It is a horrid crime. However, the onus of responsibility is debatable:
“NEW ORLEANS – The family of a teenage girl who says she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old man she met on MySpace.com asked a federal appeals court Monday to revive their lawsuit against the social networking Web site.”
link: Family seeks to revive MySpace-assault lawsuit
An analogous situation may be that one buys an automobile from Toyota. In using the vehicle, the person does not lock the doors and takes the car into a dangerous neighbourhood. A crime ensues. It does not seem that Toyota is responsible for your safety. It would appear that it is one’s own personal responsibility.
There are thousands upon thousands of media stories about the perils of social networking. Privacy and security are stressed. It is not that these internet sites have minimized the dangers. The lawsuit seems to place the onus of responsibility on the website; in this case, MySpace. As horrendous as the crime is, it seems that the responsibility is misplaced to sue MySpace for errors in judgment and placing oneself in jeopardy.
Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster