Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News

      MySpace Suicide Case Threatens Us All

      By
      Roy Mark
      -
      May 16, 2008
      Share
      Facebook
      Twitter
      Linkedin

        Once again, the desire for justice is outracing the law and potentially exposing to a federal felony beef anyone who has ever violated his or her terms of service with a web provider.

        You are, no doubt, familiar with the case of Lori Drew, the 49-year-old St. Louis woman who, along with her teenage daughter and another teenager, allegedly signed up for a MySpace account under the fake identity of a teenage boy. From there, the three sent cruel messages to teenager Megan Meier of Dardenne Prairie, Mo.

        Meier, who suffered from clinical depression, hung herself shortly after receiving the e-mails. Nasty stuff indeed, but Missouri officers reviewed laws related to stalking, harassment and child endangerment and could find nothing to file charges against Drew.

        That, however, didn’t stop a Los Angeles federal grand jury from charging Drew May 16 with one count of conspiracy and three violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Why LA? It is the home of MySpace.

        Federal prosecutors decided Drew gained “unauthorized access” to MySpace’s computers by submitting false information to the social networking site. Drew is also charged with soliciting personal information from minors, another violation of MySpace’s terms of service.

        Drew faces up to 20 years in prison, perhaps rightly so, but for all the wrong reasons.

        “Experts say that this novel claim, if successful, could be used to argue violations of the Fraud and Abuse Act in other cases where a user violates a site’s terms of service,” writes Cynthia Brumfield, president of Emerging Media Dynamics and author of the IP Democracy blog.

        That’s right: terms of service. I am confident each and every one of you always carefully reads those terms when signing up for, say, free e-mail accounts, using false information. Or, as Brumfield points out, “How many of us know whether or not that deception is a violation of the e-mail provider’s agreement?”

        Even the U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien admits this is a first since the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act has previously only been used in hacking cases.

        The U.S. attorney, Thomas O’Brien, said this was the first time the federal statute on accessing protected computers has been used in a social-networking case. It has been used in the past to address hacking.

        As the legal eagles at the Center for Democracy and Technology see it, “The federal government in this case is stretching this statute…by saying that it is now a federal crime to use a public website if you do not follow every rule set by the website.”

        Avatar
        Roy Mark

        MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

        Android

        Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

        Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
        Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
        Read more
        Cloud

        Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

        Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
        Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
        Read more
        Cybersecurity

        How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

        eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
        Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
        Read more
        Big Data and Analytics

        How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

        Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
        There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
        Read more
        Apple

        Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

        Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
        If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
        Read more
        eWeek


        Contact Us | About | Sitemap

        Facebook
        Linkedin
        RSS
        Twitter
        Youtube

        Property of TechnologyAdvice.
        Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

        © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

        Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

        ×