That's just stupid. If he can get worked up that much about something on the internet then there is something seriously wrong with him. Everyone get's mad at someone on the internet but that is taking it way to far.

I guess this goes to show that nowhere is safe anymore =/ Wherever you may be, you'll only end up getting slagged off, or worst, killed.

Quite a shame really. The internet was originally classed as a haven where you can go and talk about your interests, and now even the real world has slowly turned it around, slowly starting with smart arse comments, cyber bullyings, viruses which damaged property, and now murder. Bleeding life ain't it.

Where exactly is the evidence that he was killed by someone the guy knew online? As far as I can tell is that that's the conclusion the police are jumping to, and are totally ignoring any other possibilities.

Thats all Ive been able to find out regarding the matter. His girlfriend believes it to be this individual as do some members from the forum due to recent issues on there.

Either way, it all boils down to some psycho going off the deep end and hurting another person. Whether or not they knew each other on some random forum means little.

Disturbing stuff. Gotta be careful when you're dealing with people you know little or nothing about.

That's kind of stupid, most of the people nowadays are very stupid. Just to think that a man could kill another human being that had dreams of being something, his friends, family, etc.

Cya*

This doesn't surprise me at at all. Clearly internets are serious business.
I can't see it having anything to do with the forum guy. Unless he' whilst fuming with rage calmly bought a plane ticket, waited the the 5 hours-ish it would take. All the while being very angry, then upon arriving bought a knife, knowing that he is going to be a suspect and very easy to remember, given the fact he is an angry German. And after all that, still being very angry, he went and stabbed someone he didn't know.
It's the logical conclusion rly.

Wow, that's just too much, but as some people have said, it doesn't surprise me. People do crazy things and to get worked up over something in the internet and getting revenge for it do happen, yeah. But, as for this case, it IS hard to determine the situation since as they've even stated, it is but a theory. Sure it's possible that the guy was responsible for it, but then again who really knows? More investigation is clearly in order but they should be careful not to accuse the wrong person. It sounds a little far-fetched to me, to be honest...but again, it is possible.

I'm not very surprised by this either. There are a lot of people out there who have serious problems, and with the internet the way it is today, it's so easy to find someone. With forums, IM, blogs, and even communities like facebook and myspace, people take everything said online personal. Some people just cant distinguish between internet, and real life. Who can blame them too since some of us can agree that we spend a lot of time online, and after a while, you just get attached to it.

Part of the problem may be that an indissoluble part of the internet is anonymity. The internet as a social tool is relatively new– regardless of how old the tangible technology may seem. So new that sufficient etiquette hasn’t developed. Technology is advancing at a much faster pace than humans are and as much as I marvel at the possibilities presented by illimitable, world-wide communication, it worries me too. We are far too ahead of ourselves and as a result have found ourselves immersed in a counter-culture with no resources to understand or thrive in it. We are at still at a place where people can baulk at incidents like this and assume that the victim was some socially stunted basement-dweller that "took the internetz too srsly."

Then we end up with teenagers killing themselves over MySpace harassment. Disputes coming offline and into homes. Relationships and families destroyed over adulatory or addiction. Stalkers. Liars. The social-stigma of the internet has to change. There has to be recognition that these are real, physical consequences involving real people.

I think that there is a serious lack of consciousness, especially on forums and communal sites like LiveJournal etc that there are actual people behind the screen names and avatars. It’s easy to bully someone when you don’t have to look them in the face. This disgusting lack of common-sense humanitarianism needs to be seriously addressed – if it is not, I expect to see a great deal more of this.