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Comment by 3np | Hacker News Reader

OP doesn't mention anything about a lawsuit - got more information on that?

EDIT: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64618791

The BBC went to his house, he clearly didn't want to talk, so they stayed there for hours, waiting for him to come out?

That's is an exceedingly dickish move that should be below the BBC.

The reporter seems insufferable.

> Yells at the man's house "Why aren't you protecting children?"

> Turns to camera "I just wanted to have a civil conversation. He doesn't want to talk... ever"

Sure man, civil conversation.

I find it hard to be polite to people who try to blame the world around them for their poor luck and poor parenting.

What happened to the plaintiff was really messed up, but I don't see how it's the site's problem. Suppose you answer a newspaper personal ad, meet up with the person and get all your limbs chopped off. Yeah, that fucking sucks, but we're not about to shut down the newspaper.

Maybe... But if this is a real problem with Omegle (the article mentions that it is a common grooming platform) then it's not like there's nothing they could do. Did it even have age verification?

On balance I still think Omegle should win the case, but I don't think it's entirely without merit.

Age verification would probably require some form of ID, killing the site.

Did the internet provider have age verification? The DNS Resolution service? The SSL certificate authority? What about the electricity company? Or any other service or non-service provider which contributes in one way or another to online streaming, such as Logitech for providing a webcam, Dell for the computer, Nvidia for the graphics card.

After all, no grooming happened on omegle, that's just where they shared contact details. Grooming apparently happened on other platforms, and the common denominator seems to be the internet and everything that makes it work, not omegle.

my thoughts exactly. I don't understand why people are so hasty to blame any and all tangentially related to societal issues. But it happens all the time for websites who exist and let people post content.

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211807851/omegle-shut-down-l...

"The young woman, identified only as A.M., sought $22 million in damages in her lawsuit. Omegle was shut down days after the two sides agreed to settle the lawsuit."

article is from february

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