Reddit, Violentacrez, and the biggest troll on the web

Official figures reveal that convictions for crimes under a law used to prosecute internet trolls have increased nearly eight-fold in a decade

Have you heard about the row over a Gawker journalist's investigation into extreme adult content on Reddit, the avowed "front page of the internet"? No? Well, catch up! The story has brought fresh vim and vigour to the almost crusty debate about how to balance free speech and privacy on the internet. The best thing you can do, probably, is read Adrian Chen's original piece. On which point, we've gone to the trouble of highlighting the first paragraph for you:

"Last Wednesday afternoon I called Michael Brutsch. He was at the office of the Texas financial services company where he works as a programmer and he was having a bad day. I had just told him, on Gchat, that I had uncovered his identity as the notorious internet troll Violentacrez (pronounced Violent-Acres)."

Ok ok, here's a snatch more: "'It's amazing how much you can sweat in a 60 degree office,' he said with a nervous laugh. Judging from his internet footprint, Brutsch, 49, has a lot to sweat over. If you are capable of being offended, Brutsch has almost certainly done something that would offend you, then did his best to rub your face in it"