What Constitutes Uttering Threats on the Internet???

Question

There's a person on the Yahoo boards who is always saying he's going to find me and "beat me to death" (because he doesn't agree with my views), etc, however, I do not fear him because he has no idea where I live. Is it considered to be a threat, or would the police just say "Ignore this guy. He doesn't know who you are or where you live, and there's nothing we can do until he specifically threatens you by name."

Answer 1

i would report it to yahoo if they know enough about computers they can track u down threw your ip address

Answer 2

Certain questions must be answered.

1.) Does he send threats to your e-mail as well?

2.) Does he know where you live?

3.) Does he know your real name?

4.) Have you EVER antagonized this person in ANY way?

If you answered "no" to the first three and "yes" to the final answer, the police will most likely laugh in your face. If a person has no way of getting to you or knowing your identity, the police would not consider them to be a threat, but rather just another nut who's ranting and raving on the Internet: And there is no shortage of those.

By the way, since every accused person has the constitutional right to know who their accuser is, you could be putting yourself in a cumbersome situation. While the person does not now know who you are or where you live, if you had him arrested (which I don't think the police would do) he would soon find out who you are. Best just to let this nutjob have his fun and ignore him.

Answer 3

You should document all this threats and report to whoemever in charge of the site AND the police.  If warranted, this will prompt an investigation and the authority can find out who that is and charge with appropriate offenses.  Free speech is one thing but threat of bodily harm and injury is not covered under free speech.