120 Wild West 2.0
Sociopathy and Inexplicable Motivations
We all experience many freakish and
unexpected events.
—ACTOR VIGGO MORTENSEN
Not all intentional attacks can be easily explained. Sometimes, pure
antipathy or sociopathy spurs people to attack each other, online or
offline. For example, the horrific actions taken by many serial
killers cannot be explained through anything other than pure anti-
social motivations. Most online attacks are far less dramatic, but
many online attacks still defy explanation other than a pure desire
to hurt others. While rare, these attacks are extremely dangerous be-
cause the attacker is unlikely to respond to reason or to relent out of
human compassion. Other attacks may simply occur because the at-
tacker does not realize that he is hurting the victim; from a com-
puter terminal hundreds of miles away, it may all seem like a
harmless prank.
The vast majority of Internet users are sane and compassionate
people. But a few shocking incidents show how far the worst-of-the-
worst can slip. And, unfortunately, every Internet user needs to be
aware of the worst possible behavior online. Stories of innocent—or
at most careless—reputations being ruined are common online. In-
ternet pranksters don’t always realize that their victims feel real pain.
Sometimes the pranks are tasteless but relatively harmless, like
gaming Google so that a swastika symbol ( ) appeared as the
“hottest” Google search for a day. But other pranks go too far, like
publicly and permanently humiliating an insecure or autistic
teenager who has a publicly visible journal on LiveJournal and then
permanently memorializing the attack on websites dedicated to
documenting that kind of prank. These attackers are particularly
damaging because they are unpredictable and often work by a dif-
ferent set of social rules—and because their attacks are often so
tabloid in nature that they draw more attention.
121Why People Attack Each Other Online
The good news is that, as described in Chapters 10–13, you can
help repair the damage from any kind of online reputation attack,
and you can also take steps to help ensure that the damage does not
spread further.
Notes
1. Romans 1:29 (International Standard Version). Go: http://wildwest2.com/
go/701.
2. 1 Timothy 5:13 (International Standard Version). Go: http://wildwest2
.com/go/702.
3. Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, trans. John Dryden..
Available free online through Project Gutenberg. Go: http://wildwest2.com/
go/703
4. Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello, III, iii.
5. Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, Fiesco, I, 1.
6. John Dryden, “The Hind and the Panther,” in John Dryden: The Major
Wo rk s, ed. Keith Walker (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987).
7. Havelock Ellis, 100 Little Essays of Love and Virtue (1922). Available free
online through Project Gutenberg. Go: http://wildwest2.com/go/704.
8. Dante, “Purgatory,” in The Divine Comedy (1321): Terrace 2, Cantos 12–14.
Available free online through Project Gutenberg. Go: http://wildwest2
.com/go/705.
9. Cynthia G. Wagner, “Beating the Cyberbullies; Targets of Taunting Need
Help Turning the Tables on Tormentors,” The Futurist, September 1, 2008.
Go: http://wildwest2.com/go/706.
10. Ibid.
11. Korea Times, “Internet Witch-Hunts” (editorial), June 9, 2005. Go: http://
wildwest2.com/go/707.
12. Ibid.
13. Go: http://wildwest2.com/go/708.
14. M. J. Stephey, “Sarah Palin’s E-Mail Hacked,” Time, September 17, 2008.
Go: http://wildwest2.com/go/709.
15. Martin Wisckol, “Prop. 8 Leaders Accuse Foes of Harassment,
Intimidation,” Orange County (CA) Register, November 14, 2008. Go:
http://wildwest2.com/go/710.
16. “The Truth about eSStonia [sic],” The Economist, August 16, 2007. Go:
http://wildwest2.com/go/711.
17.“Russian and Georgian Websites Fall Victim to a War Being Fought Online as
Well as in the Field,” Reporters Without Borders (press release), August 13,
2008. Go: http://wildwest2.com/go/712.
18. Go: http://wildwest2.com/go/713.
19. “Politician Charged in Travolta Extortion,” PopEater (blog), January 23,
2009. Go: http://wildwest2.com/go/714.
20. Michael Moïssey et al., The Cambridge Economic History of Europe: Trade
and Industry in the Middle Ages (New York: Cambridge University Press,
1987): 803–804. Go: http://wildwest2.com/go/715.
21. “Kaspersky Lab Announces the Launch of Stop Gpcode, an International
Initiative against the Blackmailer Virus,” Kapersky Lab (press release), June
5, 2008. Go: http://wildwest2.com/go/716. John E. Dunn, “Police ‘Find’
Author of Notorious Virus,” Te c h Wo r l d , September 8, 2008. Go:
http://wildwest2.com/go/717.
22. Kim Zetter, “U.S. Military Contractor Allegedly Hacked Teens to Extort
Nude Photos from Them,” Wired, March 19, 2009. Go: http://wildwest2
.com/go/718.
23. For example, Arnett v. Kennedy, 416 U.S. 230, 232 (1974) (Marshall, J.,
dissenting).
Wild West 2.0122
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