2008 Woodie Awards
WSG seeks JuicyCampus solution
Sarah Kloepping
Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: News
JuicyCampus.com, a gossip Web site where anyone can post anonymous comments about others, has caused students to question the legality of the site and how the First Amendment comes into play.
WSG formed a committee made up of five members from WSG and three students.
Committee Chair and off-campus WSG Senator Andrew Meyer said the original proposal was to research the Web site and make a proposal about blocking the site from on-campus computers.
Director of Office Technology and Enterprise Technology Mary Jo deMeza said UW-Whitewater does not have any guidelines for judging acceptability of off-campus Web sites.
"There is no precedent for blocking Web sites from access on campus," deMeza said. "There would be little utility in blocking a site from campus access since the site would still be available and accessible from any other location where students might be, such as in their homes, apartments or public places."
After researching the possibility of banning JuicyCampus, Meyer made the suggestion to change their focus from the university to the state of Wisconsin.
"It's hard to do a campus-wide ban when you don't have the support of every student," Meyer said. "Based on that … the next step we took was looking into consumer fraud. We're going to write a letter asking the attorney general of Wisconsin to investigate it."
The committee is currently working on writing a letter to the attorney general and will make its recommendation to WSG April 21 at the weekly meeting.
"We are going to make legislation that says, 'this is our idea'," Meyer said. "And then the senate will vote on it. It will probably pass, I'd imagine."
The state of New Jersey is investigating JuicyCampus for possible consumer fraud violations.
Mass communications law professor James Kates said JuicyCampus.com doesn't appear to be violating any laws about slanderous or libelous comments.
"Basically, you can't sue JuicyCampus," Kates said. "You've got to find the person who posted the original comment and sue them."
WSG formed a committee made up of five members from WSG and three students.
Committee Chair and off-campus WSG Senator Andrew Meyer said the original proposal was to research the Web site and make a proposal about blocking the site from on-campus computers.
Director of Office Technology and Enterprise Technology Mary Jo deMeza said UW-Whitewater does not have any guidelines for judging acceptability of off-campus Web sites.
"There is no precedent for blocking Web sites from access on campus," deMeza said. "There would be little utility in blocking a site from campus access since the site would still be available and accessible from any other location where students might be, such as in their homes, apartments or public places."
After researching the possibility of banning JuicyCampus, Meyer made the suggestion to change their focus from the university to the state of Wisconsin.
"It's hard to do a campus-wide ban when you don't have the support of every student," Meyer said. "Based on that … the next step we took was looking into consumer fraud. We're going to write a letter asking the attorney general of Wisconsin to investigate it."
The committee is currently working on writing a letter to the attorney general and will make its recommendation to WSG April 21 at the weekly meeting.
"We are going to make legislation that says, 'this is our idea'," Meyer said. "And then the senate will vote on it. It will probably pass, I'd imagine."
The state of New Jersey is investigating JuicyCampus for possible consumer fraud violations.
Mass communications law professor James Kates said JuicyCampus.com doesn't appear to be violating any laws about slanderous or libelous comments.
"Basically, you can't sue JuicyCampus," Kates said. "You've got to find the person who posted the original comment and sue them."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Nick Dade
posted 4/16/08 @ 11:15 AM CST
I don't think the WSG should ban a certain website just because of its content.
I read last week's and this week's articles on juicycampus, and i finally decided to go there to see if it's as bad as people say. (Continued…)
Sean O'Reilly
posted 4/16/08 @ 1:13 PM CST
I don't think anyone would even know about that goofy website if it wasn't for the front page article in the Royal Purple last week.
It's a stupid website,and it shows how low some people will go to bring other people down. (Continued…)
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