In an NYTimes story this week, the death of Megan Meier finally took a turn for the better. Her tormentor a school rival's MOTHER has finally been indicted on charges relating to her suicide. This is a story that has uniquely touched me as a case of internet etiquette and rights versus the legal system. I am a staunch supporter of keeping the Internet as free of legal jurisdiction as possible as the medium is treated as a playground where noone expects they have to follow any sort of rules like they would in the real world.
More below the fold.
I have balked at cases of obscenity and pornography, and blaming online networking forums for teenagers hooking up with older people in their 20s (the child predator canard gets really old and annoying the 500th you see it). This was truelly a case where an adult acted in a way meant to hurt a child. I felt this was somewhere the legal system ,tho it had no obvious avenue at the time, should be compelled to act
From the story:
LOS ANGELES — In a highly unusual use of a federal law generally employed in computer fraud cases, a federal grand jury here on Thursday indicted a Missouri woman accused of using a phony online identity to trick and taunt a 13-year-old girl, who committed suicide in response to the cyberbaiting.
The woman, Lori Drew, was charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing a computer without authorization and via interstate commerce to obtain information to inflict emotional distress. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
I had been motivated by this original story to write Megan's mother to both offer my support, and suggest that SOME sort of legislation should be enacted that would protect children in the future, I am overjoyed to see that this has been the eventual outcome. I was not aware of the statute that existed that has been used to charge Mrs. Drew, but I am thankful.
Comments welcome.