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NEW YORK — Think twice before you sign up for an online service using a fake name or e-mail address. You could be committing a federal crime.
Federal prosecutors turned to a novel interpretation of computer hacking law to indict a Missouri mother on charges connected to the suicide of a 13-year-old MySpace user.
Prosecutors alleged that by helping create a MySpace account in the name of someone who didn't exist, Lori Drew, 49, violated the News Corp.-owned site's terms of service and thus illegally accessed protected computers.
Legal experts warned Friday that such an interpretation could criminalize routine behavior on the Internet. After all, people regularly create accounts or post information under aliases for many legitimate reasons, including parody, spam avoidance and a desire to maintain their anonymity or privacy online or that of a child.
This new interpretation also gives a business contract the force of a law: Violations of a Web site's user agreement could now lead to criminal sanction, not just civil lawsuits or ejection from a site.
"I think the danger of applying a statute in this way is that it could have unintended consequences," said John Palfrey, a Harvard law professor who leads a MySpace-convened task force on Internet safety. "An application of a general statute like this might result in chilling a great deal of online speech and other freedom."
Drew, of O'Fallon, Mo., was indicted Thursday on charges of perpetrating a hoax on the popular online hangout MySpace. Prosecutors say Drew helped create a fake MySpace account to convince Megan Meier she was chatting with a nonexistent 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans. Megan hanged herself at home in October 2006, allegedly after receiving a dozen or more cruel messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her.
Drew, who has denied creating the account or sending messages to Megan, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress on the girl.
Prosecutors argue that to access MySpace's servers, Drew first had to sign up for the service, which meant providing her name and date of birth and agreeing to abide by the site's terms of service. Those terms bar false registration information, solicitation of personal information from anyone under 18 and use of any information gathered from the Web site to "harass, abuse, or harm another person."
By using a fictitious name, among other things, Drew violated MySpace's terms and thus had no authority to access the MySpace service, prosecutors charged.
"Clearly the facts surrounding this matter are awful and very upsetting, and I certainly understand the instinct of wanting justice to be served," Palfrey said. "On the other hand, this complaint is certainly unusual."
Drew's lawyer, Dean Steward, said Thursday a legal challenge to the charges is planned. Missouri authorities said they investigated Megan's death but filed no charges because no state laws appeared to apply to the case.
Andrew DeVore, a former federal prosecutor who co-founded a regional computer crime unit in New York, said Friday the interpretation raises constitutional issues related to speech and due process — in the latter case, because it doesn't allow for adequate notice of when using an alias online is criminal.
Because corporations would end up setting criminal standards, a completely legal act at one site could be illegal at another, said DeVore, who has no direct involvement in the case.
"What clearly is going on is they couldn't find a way to charge it under traditional criminal law statutes," DeVore said. "The conduct that she engaged in they correctly concluded wouldn't satisfy the statute. Clearly they were looking for some other way to bring a charge."
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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 | MySpace suit challenges 'fake' online conduct | msnbc.com | Fri May 16 | 28 |
 | Mo. lawmakers vote to bar Internet harassment | Associated Press | Thu May 15 | 86 |
| US 'cyber-bully' mother indicted | BBC News | Fri May 16 | 0 |
| Key events in the Megan Meier case | Associated Press | Thu May 15 | 0 |
| Experts Say MySpace Suicide Indictment Sets 'Scary' Legal Precedent | Wired News | Fri May 16 | 4 |
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{"commentId":1809325,"authorDomain":"nefariousone73"}
On one hand I agree it is a common thing to create fake accounts, but I would think it highly unusual anyone would prosecute someone under this interpretation unless the circumstances truly called for it--such as this case here.
{"commentId":1809325,"threadId":"265524","contentId":"1493175","authorDomain":"nefariousone73"}
- 1 vote
#1 - Fri May 16, 2008 5:19 PM EDT{"commentId":1812343,"authorDomain":"headinthegame"}
you don't want to leave this in the hands of the prosecutors to decide. you want the law to give them no discretion--and make it painfully clear to the prosecutors that they can't do this. this is outrageous and stupid.
{"commentId":1812343,"threadId":"265524","contentId":"1493175","authorDomain":"headinthegame"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1809601,"authorDomain":"popduds"}
I agree with rbreier. Discretion on the part of the prosecutor is key. And in this case, Lori Drew deserves to be prosecuted for her role in this awful crime. While I don't believe she should be sentenced to anything close to the 20 year maximum, she does need to serve a symbolic time behind bars, be it days, months or years.
{"commentId":1809601,"threadId":"265524","contentId":"1493175","authorDomain":"popduds"}
- 1 vote
#2 - Fri May 16, 2008 6:02 PM EDT{"commentId":1812344,"authorDomain":"headinthegame"}
if you believe in prosecutorial discretion you obviously haven't been around long enough. put your faith in clear laws, not clear headed men--because the latter are in short supply.
{"commentId":1812344,"threadId":"265524","contentId":"1493175","authorDomain":"headinthegame"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1810463,"authorDomain":"sharptalk"}
I find many of the points interesting.
Most of all one important rule has been over looked by the article and the quotes. My Space rules are 14 and over.
Why is or does a child of 12 have a My Space account? Is a parent helping this child break the rules? If so would it not make since that this is encouraging the child to do just what most of these parents spoke about in the article?
Are fake accounts and faking the child 's age laying the ground for moral values that are latter broken? Are these rules for breaking when the parents feel it is ok and then when it is not to complain?
I could go on and on about the implications, moral values, rules, laws, adolescents, parental control and most importantly standing up for the law and what is right.
I am interested to hear what others have to say about this.
Thank you.
{"commentId":1810463,"threadId":"265524","contentId":"1493175","authorDomain":"sharptalk"}
#3 - Fri May 16, 2008 8:43 PM EDT{"commentId":1812345,"authorDomain":"headinthegame"}
this whole prosecutorial theory is outrageous, stupid and wrong.
{"commentId":1812345,"threadId":"265524","contentId":"1493175","authorDomain":"headinthegame"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1816938,"authorDomain":"merelyhuman"}
The victim was victim to none other than herself. Laws be damed, this a terrible event to be sure, but the lead paragraph is a little sensationalist. If things were to get they bad me, and most of my friends, would already be in prison. Sensationalist crap.
{"commentId":1816938,"threadId":"265524","contentId":"1493175","authorDomain":"merelyhuman"}
#4 - Mon May 19, 2008 4:46 AM EDT{"commentId":2130267,"authorDomain":"bargrum"}
The internet is becoming much less interesting to me. The internet was once coveted as an interactive exercise. The internet now covets and dictates the same authoritarian fantasy as mainstream television. Our options should be driven by our own humanitarian potentials. Its interesting that Education has bought into this omni-optional dead-end of options. It fits nicely with the intellectual and corporate fantasy's perfectly. Its become a web of endless commercials getting to the places that have any real substance. I question the illusions of a holy internet. Anonymity anywhere? I doubt that absolutely.
{"commentId":2130267,"threadId":"265524","contentId":"1493175","authorDomain":"bargrum"}
#5 - Sun Jul 6, 2008 9:07 PM EDT{"canLink":false,"threadId":"265524","isPrivate":false}
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