-Caveat Lector-
from:
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/19088.html?wnpg=2
<A HREF="http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/19088.html">Political
News from Wired News
</A>
-----
Can Media Make a Killer?
by Declan McCullagh
3:00 a.m. 13.Apr.99.PDT
Everyone in the fly-spit town of Paducah, Kentucky, knows of Michael
Carneal, a computer geek convicted of gunning down eight of his
high-school classmates. Everyone knows the gory details of the crime:
How the 14-year-old opened fire on a prayer circle in the lobby of Heath
High School on 1 December 1997.
What's still unclear is the nature of the demons that drove Carneal to
bring six guns to school that day. The uncertainty isn't due to lack of
details. Those became plentiful during the trial.
Might the hours Carneal spent playing Doom have blurred the line between
fantasy and reality? How about a Leonardo DiCaprio movie with a similar
scene? Or persiankitty.com and other erotic Web sites that police say
Carneal frequented?
The parents of the three students who died have a ready, and angry,
answer: All of the above.
On Monday, the families filed a lawsuit in Kentucky federal court
against a broad swath of computer companies and media firms, claiming
that the executives traded conscience for cash.
The suit, which seeks more than US$100 million in damages, says that the
25 companies engaged in a pattern of corrupt business practices that
glorify violence and promote "disregard of authority." According to the
plaintiffs, the firms "should have known that copycat violence would be
caused by their products."
Of particular concern to the families is The Basketball Diaries, a
Time-Warner movie in which the main character, played by DiCaprio, slays
his teacher and some classmates. They say the flick "is a nihilistic
glamorization of irresponsible sex, senseless and gratuitous violence,
hatred of religion" and other mendacities. They blame Time-Warner and
its partners. Carneal has told police that he remembered watching that
movie.
Videogames are another concern. Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, Redneck
Rampage, and other programs allegedly "trained Carneal how to point and
shoot a gun in a fashion making him an extraordinarily effective
killer." And porn sites "provoked violence in Carneal" by showing him
illicit material not suitable for teens. Just to be safe, the plaintiffs
have also charged the operators of persiankitty.com, adultkey.com, and
porntech.com with racketeering.
The companies being sued did not immediately respond to requests for
comment, saying that they need more time to review the allegations. "We
haven't really had a chance to look through the material well enough,"
said a spokesman for Activision, which sells Wolfenstein and Mech
Warrior.
Experts say that the suit will be thrown out of court. "This is a very
tough case to fight," said Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the
University of California at Los Angeles. "It has virtually no chance."
Similar lawsuits in the past have had little success. In 1981, Hustler
published an article -- part of a series about taboo sexual practices
-- called "Orgasm of Death." It described in graphic detail the practice
of autoerotic asphyxia, in which a person masturbates while hanging
himself to cut off the blood supply to the brain. A 14-year-old boy
found a copy, tested the theory, and was found hanging by his neck in
his closet the next morning. An appeals court said Hustler couldn't be
held responsible for the youth's death.
Another appeals court said the same thing a few years later. The 6th US
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1990 that the manufacturer of the
popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game was not responsible for a
young customer's suicide. "The materials make it clear that Dungeons &
Dragons is a 'let's-pretend' game, not an incitement to do anything more
than exercise the imagination.... Tragedies such as this simply defy
rational explanation, and courts should not pretend otherwise," the
judges wrote.
Free-speech advocates say that is the best outcome. "The case should be
dismissed for lack of a proper legal claim," says Barry Steinhardt,
associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"There is no substantial social-science evidence that shows that
entertainment causes violence. The people who commit violence should be
held accountable, not the entertainment industry," Steinhardt said.
Carneal, a Heath High freshman at the time of the shootings, has been
sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for at least
25 years.
Copyright � 1994-99 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.
-----
Aloha, He'Ping,
Om, Shalom, Salaam.
Em Hotep, Peace Be,
Omnia Bona Bonis,
All My Relations.
Adieu, Adios, Aloha.
Amen.
Roads End
Kris
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
