I come from a long line of 'Legal Experts'. My father is a retired Superior Court Judge. My brother Josh is a Tax Attorney and I am a Criminal Law instructor at 'Toughs University'. I wanted to comment on a few interesting topics I came across while viewing this web site.
First, Internet trolling can be brought to Court. People that 'Troll' the Internet with the purpose of venting frustration, looking to harass another or just to disrupt an on line forum or web site can face Criminal charges.
Trolling is when a person frequents the Web or particular forums and posts "Harassing" or "Inappropriate" comments on a consistent basis.. Many times the poster is acting out of frustration, anger or to communicate with certain persons that they hold a grudge or harbor animosity against.
Almost always the responsible party suffers 'Deep Rooted' Mental or Psychological' illness and possibly 'Obsessive' type behavior. In addition, the person feels secure hiding behind a computer screen.
This behavior can be disturbing to other forum members as well as Web creators. It can appear as if the disturbed person is attempting to 'Sabotage' certain forum topics hoping that the topic or subject will eventually be removed. If the topic is removed than the 'Troller' feels a sense of victory.
Keep in mind, many of the 'Internet Trollers' out there feel they are safe hiding behind secured networks and/or VPN type services. 'NOT TRUE'. most secured networks and VPN service providers must comply with court orders to surrender secured information as well as IP Location data. Forensic computer specialists can identify altered or disguised IP Addresses. Once this is done the computer tech would simply contact the third party VPN provider or secured network administrator.
In my experience, VPN providers keep logs somewhere even if they tell the subscriber or customer otherwise. Therefore, it is recommend you do your homework prior to choosing an VPN provider. Inexpensive services are not always the best. "You get what you pay for".
Internet Trolling can cause stress for those whom obey Internet Laws. This behavior can cause web forum administrators to shut down or remove certain topics altogether.
I know of a few successful prosecutions for 'Trolling'. I hope in the future people pursue the issue and we see more cases of Internet abusers brought to justice. Trolling is similar to Stalking but not exactly. I am an advocate of keeping the Internet a safe place for everyone. Which won't happen unless we take a stand against "Trolling".