I can’t believe President Bush didn’t veto this. Moreover, how could Congress actually PASS a law that blatantly demolishes the first amendment like that? I know Congress hasn’t been the sharpest tool in the shed but this is going too far.
On a side note, my name is Michael and Crotanks is a weenie.
If you got charged for being annoying on the internet, wouldnt you just say that I have the right to be annoying via the first ammendment? I dont think I understand, why make a law when theres an AMMENDMENT in the Constitution that says you can pretty much say whatever the fuck you want. Woops.
They only added “as long as you’re known” to it.
Remind me again… when did people start wiping their ass with the Constitution?
You’re all under arrest!
I’m sure Nul would get me in jail if she could. 
Guys, good job at noticing the fact that it’s been amended onto a bill that would make bush look horribly bad if he vetoed it.
“This ridiculous prohibition, which would likely imperil much of Usenet, is buried in the so-called Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Criminal penalties include stiff fines and two years in prison.”
I’d like to see your reactions if he vetoed a bill by that name. “ZOMG HE HATES WOMEN OMGOMGOMG”
Read the fucking article and think before you go spouting bullshit.
I love how you can attach an internet annoyance ammendment to a violence against women bill in the first place.
Our government rules!
I’m still curious as to how they’ll convict you for being annoying and not revealing your name if they don’t know your name.
Annoyance is harassment, i guess, and harassment is punishable. Prohibiting annoyances doesnt necessarily abridge our speech, thus it isnt unconstitutional. crap.
but as for the internet thing from Mullenkamp: get over it, Gillespie! If theyre giving you a hard time, leave! I’ve been harrased verbally and physically, but the only reason i returned was 'cause i had to ('twas at school). They have the right to insult you, so get over it!
Annoying. But he gave his name, so he’s safe.
Uh, no, annoyance ISN’T harrasment. You can annoy someone by saying “lol i h8 bush lol”, but that’s NOT harrasing them. Harrasing them would be going up to them and saying, “I hate you and your family you faggot, and you’re all going to burn in hell, fucker, oh, and I’m going to set your cat on fire. Fkn fgt.”
There’s a HUGE difference between harrasment and annoying.
If you ask me, this is just plain stupid. I suppose if someone is harrassing someone, then sure go ahead and get them, but for just annoying them, that seems like overkill.
Generally, whether something is considered harassment or not doesn’t have to do with intent, but rather <b><i>perception</i></b> (Technically both of Cavelcade’s examples COULD be considered harassment, depending on the circumstances). That’s why even if somebody is doing something that they don’t think is harassment, it may still be considered harassment. If somebody is truly feeling harassed, and they ask the person to stop, and they DON’T, then that’s when there’s a harassment case. It has little to do with the harassing actions themselves.
Anyway, the 1st Amendment is NOT absolute, nor has it ever been. There have always been limitations on it. Just because it says there’s a right to free speech, that doesn’t mean that anybody can say anything at any time. I’m sick of people hearing about any law that regulates anything, and then just spouting out that it’s “unconstitutional”.
Anyway, I don’t know a great deal about this bill, but I believe Sorc was right about it dealing with spam (like, the BIG spammers). This doesn’t mean that the feds are going to start reading our message board and start arresting people that end up on our banned list.
I think the word “annoy” was a poorly chosen one, and people are just getting the wrong impression because of that.
This will crush the slash fanfiction portions of the internet.
o rly? dood, sweet
Anyway, uh, how does it define “annoying”, exactly? Is it like harassment in that it only counts if you ask them to stop and it doesn’t, or can you suddenly find yourself sued with no warning?