The Internet Is Now Part of the Crime Scene 145
theodp (442580) writes "Over at Forbes, Kashmir Hill examines the disturbing Internet footprint of Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodger. 'A decade ago,' observes TechCrunch's John Biggs in The Internet Is Now Part Of The Crime Scene, 'a crime scene was a photo and a report. Now it is a sea of interconnected tracings, the murderer bobbing loosely in social media and the forums. We can watch him make his way through these straits, we can watch the madness growing, and we can watch his terrible end, all through murk of media. We are quick to judge and we are quick to look at his wake and say, definitively, that he was this or he was that. He was frustrated. The frustration grew. He went to a place he thought would help. It didn't.'"
The bigger story (Score:4, Interesting)
is to congratulate the NSA and FBI on what a fine job they are doing spying on us. How safe they kept us with ever intrusive nets. That they can't even catch a kid whose own relatives called the police on him worried and posted out in the open that he'll kill people.
And then they go on how they need more powers to protect us. Yeah, right, more like to control the populace.
Congratulations Law Enforcement. Awesome work.
Not so fast.... (Score:2, Interesting)
the internet is not a "crime scene"(for this) any more than the postal system and newspaper opinion pieces were 30 years ago..
A crime scene is a location where a crime took place or another location where evidence of the crime may be found.
Crime scene [wikipedia.org]
Rodger's e-mails and posts to the Internet would be admissible as evidence of premeditated murder.
Once again, a self-made video, uploaded to the world via YouTube, is at the heart of a horrific news event.
Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old man who authorities say killed six people in the Santa Barbara, Calif., area before fatally shooting himself late Friday, posted at least two self-pitying videos to the video-sharing site shortly before he went on his rampage.
The videos --- in which Rodger calmly and chillingly discusses his sexual frustrations and intent to ''slaughter'' those he claims harmed him --- were removed by YouTube after viewers flagged them. But they were repeatedly re-posted on the site as copies spread across the Internet.
Videos are routinely flagged by YouTube's users; the company reviews videos that have raised concerns and removes them if they violate its community guidelines. Among other things, the guidelines prohibit videos displaying ''predatory behavior, stalking, threats, harassment [and] intimidation ... and inciting others to commit violent acts. ... Anyone caught doing these things may be permanently banned from YouTube.''
Law enforcement authorities in Santa Barbara said they are analyzing Rodger's videos, which he apparently has posted online since 2012.
Elliot Rodger video removed by YouTube [washingtonpost.com]
Finally, when exactly did the angry rants of a mass murderer become rightfully characterized as a manifesto? Although Rodger's document is a manifestation of emotional disturbance, it hardly qualifies to be called a manifesto. A true manifesto reflects the political ideology of a formidable leader of men, a political force to be reckoned with. Nowhere in his 141 pages does Rodger describe his manuscript in such a way.
So why should we?
Why mass killers need to explain their plan [usatoday.com]
Re:Nobody move a finger! (Score:5, Interesting)
OT but a little funny: this reminds me of a time when I was a vax/vms guy and working with a hardcore unix (ultrix) guy. I was in good old EDT editor (remember that?) and asked the guy for some help on something. he came over to my terminal, hit ctl-z (thinking it would just put my current job in the bg) but, in fact, in EDT editor ctl-z SAVES THE FILE AND EXITS!
oops. he felt embarassed, as well he should have. I was not an emacs guy at that point, yet...
never walk up to someone's terminal and just hit ctl-z. never go full retard, either.
Re:What kind of dating approach (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:The gun store should be a crime scene (Score:2, Interesting)
Yes, let's just conveniently ignore the fact that guns tend to stand out from most other objects that can be used to kill or main people since guns are *intended* and *designed* to kill or maim people *at a distance*.