I’ve posted before about social networking sites in general and MySpace in particular, questioning if the “Wizened of Oz’s” $650 million investment will pay off if he continues to flood it with Fox promos, driving away the original audience. But news out of Texas presents another possible big problem for these sites. Apparently an assistant principal at a Texas school is suing two students and their parents over a MySpace page that depicted the administrator as a lesbian and contained "obscene comments, pictures and graphics," according to the court filing. Anna Draker, who works at Clark High School in San Antonio, knows the kids behind the site well. She had been forced to discipline them several times, and was aware of their animosity to her, but apparently did not suspect the lengths to which they would go to get a bit of revenge. They set up a MySpace page in Draker's name earlier this year which "indicated by implication and by direct statement that Ms. Draker is a lesbian, which she is not." What sets this case apart from other lawsuits filed over blogs is that it argues that the parents were guilty of negligence by failing to supervise their children, and that they bear some of the responsibility for the defaming site. The police determined that the computers used to create the site were located in the students' homes, and Draker's lawsuit says that the parents have a duty to know what their children are up to—especially in light of both students' past run-ins with Draker at school. This is something that will be worth watching. I’ll keep you posted.
Recommended reading for teenage MySpace users!
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