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MySpace Suicide Charges Threaten Free Speech

Posted by kdawson on from the then-we-are-all-criminals dept.

Naturalist recommends a piece up at Ars about a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the EFF, CDT, Public Citizen, and a group of 14 law professors in the case of Lori Drew, who posed as a teenage boy to harass another teen online, eventually driving her to suicide. (We've discussed the case a few times.) "[The amicus brief argues] that violating MySpace's Terms of Service agreement shouldn't be considered criminal offense under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The groups believe that if the mother, Lori Drew, is prosecuted using CFAA charges, the case could have significant ramifications for the free speech rights of US citizens using the Internet."

3 of 687 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Bad precedent... by Skadet · · Score: 5, Interesting

    create a new law to handle this case

    I assume by "case" you mean "behavior".

    What kind of behavior are you considering outlawing here? Being a dick? You want to outlaw being a dick on the internet?

    HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHA

    --
    Sony ha
  2. This time, you just gotta read the article! by MarkvW · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The point isn't that the lady said bad things that drove a kid to suicide, or that the lady used the internet to do it. The lady should be subject to ordinary liability for that--just like any person who did the same thing on the street, or in the mail, or whatever. That's not the issue.

    The issue is the terms of service agreement! That thing you click on and ignore so many times. That thing you send phony information so that the corporation doesn't get too personal on you!

    If you type in phony information, (FRAUD, daddy), and then hurt somebody's feelings while on the account procured by fraud, the Federales can prosecute you for a crime. Think about the slippery slope this affords . . .

    You gotta love the ingenuity of those federal prosecutors!

  3. Re:Bad precedent... by MindlessAutomata · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Next time I fill in a fake name or address signing up on a web site I should be charged with a felony?