[MUD-Dev] Myn ynd Wymyn (was Teaching ethics in MUDs)

[Ananda Dawnsinger]

> From: Ananda Dawnsinger <ananda at winterreach.com>
> 
>> From: Adam Casbarian <adamcas at concentric.net>

[Below is the quote that Adam's post was in response to, added back
into the message for clearer reference.]

>>> From: "John Buehler" <johnbue at msn.com>

>>> I've long said that we need to be able to know how old and what
>>> sex the player behind the character is.  Particularly when the
>>> player is under 21.

>> Let me pose this question:

>> If a girl gives her real life address to some guy she fell in love
>> with, they meet and she gets raped, is the mud liable to some
>> degree?  Could that mud be sued?
 
> Not nearly as liable as if a guy was tracked down and beaten because
> an admin "accidentally let slip" the real name of Betty the
> WonderBabe.

Sorry to respond to my own message... but now that I've had a bit of a
chance to "cool down," I find I have more to say.

In the fifteen years that I've been online, I can't think of a single
case of a content provider (online service, ISP, MUD, etc.) being held
liable in a case such as the above.  I can't even think of any
lawsuits being filed.  This despite several well-publicized cases of
online encounters leading to rape [some later recanted], and at least
one alleged murder; and an unknown number of milder, unpublicized
cases of less extreme behavior (e.g.  adultery) that could have served
as basis for lawsuits.  There could be several different reasons for
this:

  1) Selective memory on my part.  (Always a possibility.)

  2) No lawsuits have ever been filed.

  3) The lawsuits were kept quiet, and settled out of court.

So it appears, on the face of it, that the answer is "not very liable,
and not bloody likely."  But there could easily be cases that fall
into this category, and either I haven't heard of them or I've
conveniently forgotten.

But John Buehler's post above begs another question:

If the MUD is liable for Adam's scenario (Alice gives Bill personal
information, Bill tracks down Alice and rapes her), then does the
admins' knowledge that Alice is a woman and Bill a man give them
adequate and appropriate tools to protect Alice?

I don't see how it does.  I honestly don't.  A false sense of
security, yes.  A reason for Alice to charge the MUD with unequal
treatment, perhaps.  Unless there's an operating assumption that women
are, like children, naive and careless and unaware of 'Net safety, and
must be protected for their own good... and I think it's safe to
assume there's not.

This isn't Adam's question... but it's the one I was answering.
<grin>

    -- Sharon

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