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User Charged With Felony For Using Fake Name On MySpace

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the understand-before-you-prosecute dept.

Recently a user, Lori Drew, was charged with a felony for the heinous crime of pretending to be someone else on the Internet. Using the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Lori was charged for signing up for MySpace using a fake name. "The access to MySpace was unauthorized because using a fake name violated the terms of service. The information from a "protected computer" was the profiles of other MySpace users. If this is found to be a valid interpretation of the law, it's really quite frightening. If you violate the Terms of Service of a website, you can be charged with hacking. That's an astounding concept. Does this mean that everyone who uses Bugmenot could be prosecuted? Also, this isn't a minor crime, it's a felony punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment per count. In Drew's case she was charged with three counts for accessing MySpace on three different occasions."

6 of 931 comments (clear)

  1. Gotta love these Sheriff Buford types by presidenteloco · · Score: 0, Troll

    Bringing law and order at the point of a god-given revolver to the wild west Internet.

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    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
  2. listen dumbasses.... by inerlogic · · Score: 0, Troll

    this isn't about someone using a fake name on myspace for chuckles getting busted. this about an adult woman... a parent.... signing onto myspace, pretending to be a teenage boy to gain the trust of, and then ruin the life of an innocent teenage girl. who then hung herself. unfortunately there's no law against driving someone to commit suicide.... so the only thing she *could* be charged with was this BS myspace fraud thing. hopefully she'll get raped to death in prison by big bertha.... we can only hope...

    1. Re:listen dumbasses.... by Sj0 · · Score: 0, Troll

      Yeah, there's a million sob stories on Slashdot. Many, I'm sure, are worse than this one.

      Why should this woman be charged, while the millions of people involved in all the injustices slashdotters have endured go unpunished, simply because this girl chose to commit suicide, while we didn't?

      I think the woman should get off scott free. If you commit suicide, you've done something terrible. You don't deserve more retribution for your stupid, senseless, inconsiderate act than someone who endures it and doesn't commit suicide. Don't reward bad behaviour.

      Why is it that this woman deserves special attention just because the girl committed suicide? Why is it that the million people who suffer similarly legal injustices but don't commit suicide face knowing those who harm them will never be punished? Why is their strength in the face of adversity punished with a lower standard of justice?

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      It's been a long time.
  3. Re:just respect the Terms of Service by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 0, Troll

    just respect the Terms of Service and you will be fine. If you don't like the conditions, just don't use the service.

    What's next? "Don't want to get executed, then don't steal that candy bar!" "Don't want to be anally and/or vaginally probed by TSA perverts? Use a form of transportation other than flying!"

    Let me explain it simply to you, redneck boy, though you probably still won't get it. Some situations, laws, and so on are simply unconscionable in and of themselves. Five years in prison and a felony conviction for violating a website's Terms of Service is insane and absurd. Any drooling idiot can figure out what you have just blathered, namely Action A results in Consequence B. The question is, why is the situation such as it is and is that situation reasonable?

    Well, anyway, that's enough time wasted banging my head into a brick wall.

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    Similar to the upcoming US election results
  4. No one should listen to you by Liquidrage · · Score: 0, Troll

    You think the people involved in the charges are LAZY? LAZY?.

    You ignorant internet know-nothing. She wouldn't be charged for violating a TOS. The part that you and the rest of you lazy people are missing is she would be charged for violating the TOS *to* commit harm to a person. That's not my common sense approach, that is what she would be charged with. And unless you know 1st hand the people involved, I seriously suggest you lay off your ignorant accuations as to their work effort.

  5. Re:Commonsense... by onecheapgeek · · Score: 0, Troll

    Ok, you are officially an idiot.

    Repeat after me. MYSPACE IS NOT GOING AFTER LORI DREW. THE US GOVERNMENT IS GOING AFTER LORI DREW.

    If MySpace wants to sue her for violating TOS, I say go for it. If the US Government wants to start prosecuting every violation of every corporation's TOS...well, I hope I don't need to tell you why that is a bad idea.