Category: Technology Author : Duncan Riley Posted: July 2, 2009
Tags : Lori Drew, lori drew myspace, megan meier, tina meier
Charges against Lori Drew, the mother who drove Missouri teenager Megan Meier to suicide on MySpace in 2007 have been dismissed.
Drew was found guilty of three counts of accessing a computer without authorization in November 2008 over tricking Meier, a rival of her daughter, into a fake relationship with a fictitious boy on MySpace. Drew broke the relationship off and mocked Meier, an action that drove the teen to end her life.
In dismissing the charges, U.S. District Judge George H. Wu said that he was concerned that if Drew was found guilty of violating the terms of service in using MySpace, anyone who violated the terms could be convicted of a crime.
The result is a blow to prosecutors who were desperate to charge Drew with anything following the public outrage the story generated. For the rest of us though, the decision is a good one. Turning a Terms of Service breach into a Federal Crime could have opened a pandora’s box of prosecutions for even trivial matters (potentially using a presumed identity could have become a crime), a view held by a range of groups on both sides of the political fence including the EFF and Heritage Foundation.
Jul 2, 2009
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Jul 3, 2009
It is no way a good thing. Anyone who believes it to be a “good thing” is uneducated and morally corrupt. Lori Drew and her co-horts killed that child as surely as if they put a gun to the girls head and pulled the trigger. As is the usual case in this country, the guilty go free while the innocent are left without justice. Judge Wu should be dismissed from his duties as a judge. He has now set precident for more of these CRIMES to occur without any concern for legal retribution because he lacks the forthought and, clearly, the nads to take the proper actions. Mrs. Drew's statement following the “case dismissal” is pure rubbish, and it would ONLY be fitting that she be viewed by all whom she comes in contact with as the perahia she is. Let us not forget that Drew is a middle-aged woman and her victim but a child! As for “trivial matters” and “Pandora's Box” referred to in this piece, come on and get for real! This event was in no way trivial! You, dear author, should hang your head in shame for having the bizarre audacity to make such a thinly veiled suggestion. If you are not aware that there are exceptions to every rule, then stick around on this earth a while! This decision is a travesty of justice and could have spear-headed legislation to deal with extreme cases such as this one.
Jul 3, 2009
I was beginning to read your comment, but once I got to the third sentence, I needed to stop. Someone claiming that others are “uneducated” should at least be educated themselves. What made me stop reading your comment was your use of “co-horts”. Cohorts is a word, but is not when you spell it your way. To me, you sound like the idiot. Go to school sometime, you might learn something.
Now time for my comment. I see why everyone is angered by this lady, and I agree that what she did was wrong, but I also believe that the little girl also did something wrong. How could you be so caught up in a digital world to harm yourself in the physical world? Could she not confide in anyone close to her about her problems? I guess not. Also, I see why the judge dismissed the case, and am happy. To be simple, it makes sense. I could discuss this for much longer, but I feel that this is enough.
Jul 19, 2009
While in no manner can Lori Drew's behavior be condoned, and in my opinion is disgusting and revolting, the issue is the law under which prosecutors were trying to convict Lori Drew. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was targeted towards hackers and other computer evildoers who have the intent of disrupting services or otherwise causing havoc. The Act was not designed to cover this kind of situation, and as this article points out, attempting to stretch it to cover this situation means that whenever you (or I) violate a Terms of User or End User License Agreement (which I will point out most of us do on a regular basis, as they are very broad), theoretically the Government could bring criminal sanctions against such behavior. Lori Drew may still be exposed to civil liability for her horrendous actions, but in this case the law was interpreted correctly so as not to expose the rest of us to criminal liability for innocent behavior.