Still Not Going To Do This Every Day

From a story on the school’s site:

Anonymous allegations of licentiousness are a common, if not accepted, form of speech on bathroom walls. Typically, few people view the written attacks before they are removed.

Such is not the case with the Internet, where anonymous postings of nasty comments, largely unregulated, remain indefinitely for worldwide view. Like the bathroom wall graffitist, the Web attacker largely continues life free of responsibility for his attack. But unlike the graffitist’s target, the Web victim may not erase the despicable, even untrue allegation.

Laws regulate many Internet excesses, including identity theft, copyright infringements, plagiarism, and scams of various sorts. But the legal world is only beginning to grapple with how to control harmful gossip in the unruly world of the Web. At a Law School conference entitled “Speech, Privacy, and the Internet: The University and Beyond,” held late last year, faculty from Chicago and other invited scholars examined the phenomenon of Internet gossip—particularly the harassment of women on the Web—while discussing possible remedies.

Whew. At least somebody has the decency to tackle the problems these poor girls face…