mixedmedia

They are a mix of yes's and no's in my mind, too, and again, I am not making a case for manslaughter or criminal negligence here.

I didn't intend to the word "malice" to be used in a "criminal" sense. Only that, I don't see how someone could be encourage someone to kill themselves without malice.

But my point is, that I don't think anyone here can draw a definite line on the culpability of people egging on the commission of a crime just because they are not in a position to physically prevent it. In this case we are talking about the crime of a person killing hisself. I think opinion on this issue would sway a lot more if the crime were of a nature that is not self-induced. And that is as it probably should be, or at least, as it should be expected. I just don't think that you can lay down any hard and fast culpability mandates because the people watching and encouraging couldn't have physically stopped it therefore they are free to behave unreasonably. I'm not willing to make that kind of blanket reprieve at this juncture. I mean, personal responsibility, right? It doesn't necessarily end because your "person" has been absorbed into the anonymity of the internet. Legally, perhaps it will remain that way, I fully comprehend the danger of toying with it. But, PERSONALLY, I do not absolve these people of responisbility for what happened. Hopefully some of that makes sense.

I've run out of time for writing. doh! gotta go...

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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce