Sunday, August 19, 2007
The perils of Internet addiction
Apparently you do not choose to read this blog. In fact, you are a slave to your impulses, without free will:
Internet addiction should be grouped with extreme addictive disorders such as gambling, sex addiction and kleptomania, an Israeli psychiatrist said.
Of course, Internet addiction cannot be a disorder in the abstract. After all, fun in and of its ownself is not pathological. Internet addiction is only a problem because of the damage it causes.
My question: How long will it be before the American trial bar sues a defendant class of online content providers for "making the Internet so interesting that it is addictive"?
6 Comments:
By 
, at
Sun Aug 19, 05:55:00 PM:
My question: How long will it be before the American trial bar sues a defendant class of online content providers for "making the Internet so interesting that it is addictive"?
-Based on the dreary quality of the vast majority of what I encounter on the web, probably never.
By 
antithaca, at
Sun Aug 19, 08:19:00 PM:
The internet provides an entirely unforeseen meaning to the phrase "vast wasteland".
By , at
Sun Aug 19, 11:33:00 PM:
If it is such a "vast wasteland" , then why are you reading a blog instead of watching TV, reading a book, or saving the world?
I realize I need to cut down on blog reading and read more books.
By Georg Felis, at
Sun Aug 19, 11:55:00 PM:
But being addicted to Tigerhawk blogging is a good thing, right?
By , at
Mon Aug 20, 12:40:00 AM:
If I were in the MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game business, or had an interest in a property like World of Warcraft, I'd be worried about two things: one is the American trial bar suing as described above. The other is the taxation of virtual wealth, which is currently not happening but the IRS is trying to find a way to do. Blizzard/Vivendi's legal departments have not aggressively gone after companies who sell in-game gold for real money using the legal system because they are afraid of that; but it's just a matter of time before that kind of taxation cuts into their profit margins.
By , at
Mon Aug 20, 09:45:00 AM:
I am looking for people to participate in a class-action lawsuit against Al Gore, the inventor of the Internet. You can contact me at SilkyPony@edwards.com or my law offices: Ketchum, Cheatum, and Edwards.
