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47 U.S.F. L. Rev. 353 (2012-2013)
Trolling Attacks and the Need for New Approaches to Privacy Torts

handle is hein.journals/usflr47 and id is 365 raw text is: Comments Trolling Attacks and the Need for New Approaches to Privacy Torts By ARTHUR GAUS* Introduction ANONYMITY DEFINES THE INTERNET. On the Internet, users can share information and ideas, engage in commercial transactions, and debate relevant issues without ever having to reveal their true identi- ties. Anonymity, however, comes with lowered inhibitions. Without the threat of a blot on one's good name, Internet users operate unen- cumbered by generally accepted social norms and, as a result, are more prone to say and do things that they perhaps would not under their real identities. Benefits certainly do exist: The anonymity of the Internet has promoted a freer exchange of ideas and a more diverse online economy.' Anonymity in general, however, erodes accountabil- ity. The Internet's diminished capacity for accountability has bred small but powerful communities of Internet trolls.2 The conduct of these communities and the individuals affiliated with them is ex- tremely varied; it ranges from benign contrarian behavior on online message boards to the destructive circulation of intentionally harmful Internet memes.3 This paper will demonstrate that our current legal * J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law (2012); B.A. University of California, Santa Cruz. 1. Zizi Papacharissi, The Virtual Sphere: The Internet as a Public Sphere, 4 NEW MEDIA & Soc'v 9, 26 (2002), available at http://tigger.uic.edu/~zizi%20/Site/Research-files/Virtual Sphere.pdf. 2. Defined infra Part IA, trolls refers generally to Internet users who engage in a broad spectrum of intentionally mischievous behavior designed to illicit strong reactions from the targets of their activities. See Ana Marie Cox, Making Mischief on the Web, TIME (Dec. 16, 2006), http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570701,00.html. 3. Meme is a neologism of the Internet, defined as an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations. Meme Definition, OXFORD DICTIONARIEs, http://oxforddictiona- ries.com/definition/english/meme (last visited Nov. 16, 2012). 353