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.

Lori Drew case dismissed, and why it’s a good thing is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Federal Jury in Los Angeles hearing the MySpace suicide case has found Lori Drew guilty of three minor offenses.

The MySpace Suicide made headlines last year after it was disclosed that a Missouri teenager Megan Meier hanged herself after being tricked into a fake relationship with a fictitious boy on MySpace. Lori Drew, the mother of a school rival of Megan Meier was posing as the boy.

The result wasn’t all good news: the jury could not reach a verdict on a conspiracy count, and U.S. District Court Judge George Wu declared a mistrial on the charge reports AP. It’s not clear at this stage whether a new trial will be held to rehear those charge. If later found guilty of conspiracy, Drew could face 20 years in jail.

Instead the jury found Lori Drew guilty of three counts of accessing a computer without authorization, with a maximum 3 year sentence possible and up to a $300,000 fine. Sentencing has not yet been decided.

Obviously its unfortunate they didn’t get all four to stick, but at least some justice has been had.

(img credit: The Age)

MySpace Suicide verdict: Lori Drew guilty of lesser charges is a post from: The Inquisitr