Inuvik (Jun 19/06) - A fight at a house party got even nastier when a video of the altercation was uploaded to a personal website on the Internet.

In the end, police became involved, three youth ended up before the community justice committee and the vice-principal of Samuel Hearne secondary school has banned access to certain websites.

On June 2, someone recorded a video of a teenaged girl beating up another girl at an Inuvik house party. That clip was posted on a website the next day. The victim's parents saw the video and contacted RCMP, but no charges were laid, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Sid Gray. "An agreement was made between the two parties, and it never made it to court."

He said three youth who were involved in instigating and recording the fight were sent to the community justice committee.

According to a teen who saw the clip, it circulated quickly through the community. "She got hit like 20 times," said J.D. Keogak, 16. "It was uploaded the next day, and it went around fast.

"You should just be aware of what you put on the net," he said. Another student who wished to stay anonymous, said bad content gives youth a bad rap. "It looks bad on all of us," he said.

Samuel Hearne secondary school vice principal Lorne Guy said that as a result of the posting, connecting to personal webspaces like BEBO and FOTKI has been banned in the school. "Using those sites is something that the school disapproves of," said Guy.

Guy said the school has blocked such sites, and teachers monitor the students' computer usage. He said he wants parents to be aware of the content being uploaded, because it may cause problems in the future. "If it's illegal, and on these sites then the police can see it, and charges may be laid," said Guy.

NWT Privacy Commissioner Elaine Keenan-Bengts said the Internet is unregulated territory when it comes to privacy law, but said that people could end up facing criminal charges, depending upon what's been uploaded.

"If you are inciting violence, or making porno, those are criminal offenses," said Keenan-Bengts. "Someone could sue for injured reputation.

"She also said that not a whole lot can be done to prevent further incidents like the online fight clip.

"It's kids doing their thing on the Internet, not much can be done about that."