You could not make up stories like these even if you tried. James Pacenza used to work for IBM until he got fired for participating in adult chat rooms. He now has sued IBM because he claims to be a sex addict and an Internet addict, and that under his condition he’s entitled to protection under the American with Disabilities Act.

While this has some comedic value, the case could be the first test of Internet addiction. As early as 1998, clinical psychologists have been claiming that the Internet can be addictive. A PubMed search on “internet addiction” retrieves 156 results. Could this person have a case if there is such a thing as Internet addiction?

Having played MMORPGs from time to time, I can empathise with the addictive claim.


3 Comments

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Anonymous · February 22, 2007 at 6:29 am

The Technollama fires lightening bolts from his finger tips, can fly, and vanish at will, faster than you can say "covcoh". For a demonstration of this amazing display, you might need to plead with him…

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Andres Guadamuz · February 22, 2007 at 9:40 am

Crikey, I've been found!

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Jordan · March 1, 2007 at 8:24 am

At least the IBM guy didn't die on the job from playing on the internet. A gamer in China died this week after playing for almost 7 days straight. [Link] I can't help but wonder if it was WoW (or stop thinking about that South Park episode…).

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