by Traverse Legal, reviewed by Enrico Schaefer - April 17, 2007 - Uncategorized
A lot has come out about Cho Seung Hui, the man police have named as the shooter in the Virginia Tech tragedy. There is little doubt at this point that Cho Seung Hui is responsible for his murderous rampage.
But as I followed the technorati tags and internet trail of Cho Seung Hui, I came across some great reporting by the blog at Wired Magazine. A Wired blog post by Kevin Poulsen looked for traces of Cho Seung Hui on the internet with updates about internet clues the killer left behind. As I clicked a link to a young woman being reported as Cho Seung Hui’s ex-girlfriend and early victim of his gun, I was dumbfounded when I saw the Google MySpace advertisement inviting me to put 50 Cent in the sight of my gun and shoot him dead to win $5,000. When I clicked on one of the victims MySpace friends, Google ads asked “Do You Want To know The Date of Your Death?”
Here is a windows media file which gets big enough to see the entire screen.
Shocked? Horrified, Amazed? Yes, all of these emotions struck me. Watch the video and you will wonder, like I did, “who else besides the shooter is responsible for the Virginia Tech Massacre?”
This video and the advertisement shown therein are no coincidence. Violence is marketed to the 15-25 year olds who dominate MySpace and many other internet sites like candy. These advertisements broadcast on Cho Seung Hui’s alleged deceased ex-girlfriend myspace page speaks volumes about all of us.
Our responsibility for violence such as occurred at Virginia Tech can be reduced to a Google ad. We don’t tolerate violence. We encourage it. We market it. We glorify it.
So when you are casting dispersions at Virginia Tech for not evacuating the campus, the gun shop for selling the murderer his gun, the gun laws for allowing firearms, the police for not acting sooner, Congress, Bush, etc, etc, etc, don’t forget to look in the mirror. And if you need a pick-me-up, line up 50 Cent in your scope and shoot him dead. You could win $5,000 from bid4prizes.com …
As a founding partner of Traverse Legal, PLC, he has more than thirty years of experience as an attorney for both established companies and emerging start-ups. His extensive experience includes navigating technology law matters and complex litigation throughout the United States.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Enrico Schaefer, who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing Business, IP, and Technology Law litigation attorney.
