Man sues bank over threatening MySpace messages
Here’s an interesting one…
April 14, 2009
Man sues bank over threatening MySpace messagesCHICAGO — A Chicago man is suing a collection agency and JP Morgan Chase Bank for posting threatening messages on his daughter’s MySpace account.
James Ricobene claims Universal Tracing Services threatened his daughter with felony charges and possible imprisonment if he didn’t pay back his car loan.
When he contacted Chase, Ricobene claims, he was told the bank employs Universal because the company uses social networking sites and that it’s an “effective collection practice.”
The suit accuses Universal and Chase of libel, invasion of privacy and violation of the Consumer Fraud Act, and asks for more than $150,000 in damages.
I don’t know how far he’ll get with the libel, and we know from the other recent ruling that the invasion of privacy won’t hold on a public social networking page… if anything, the CFA violation should stick, but couldn’t he also do something on the open threat to his daughter? How old is his daughter too? Because if she is a minor, wouldn’t that be a bigger crime (on the agency’s part).
Bottom line, here’s another great example of why social networks are the root of all evil. This has nothing to do with monitoring, per se… it’s just good fuel for my anti-social network bonfire.
Burn, baby! Burn!
