Prosecutors Go Overboard In Indicting Woman Involved In MySpace Hoax That Resulted In Suicide
from the out-for-vengeance dept
Before we get into the details, I think everyone can agree that the story of Megan Meier is quite tragic. She was the 13-year-old girl who was "friended" on MySpace by a boy with whom she became close online. After a certain amount of time, the boy turned on her, trying to end the friendship and saying that "the world would be better off without her." After receiving this message, Megan committed suicide. Later, it was discovered that the boy in question never existed -- and was part of a hoax perpetrated by some of Megan's friends/neighbors, including the mother of one of Megan's former friends. The story is, most definitely, sad and tragic -- and it's no surprise that there are people out for vengeance, with the main target being Lori Drew, the adult who participated in some manner in the hoax. However, as we said back when state prosecutors in Missouri couldn't find any law to prosecute, being a total jerk online is not a crime. As stupid as the prank was, it wasn't designed to make the girl commit suicide.
But, of course, when you have a high profile case that includes a 13-year-old girl committing suicide after being misled, people are still going to push for something to be done (or they end up doing something themselves). So with state prosecutors failing to find anything, federal prosecutors stepped in, and have now indicted Lori Drew on a number of different charges, relating to "conspiracy and fraudulently gaining access to someone else's computer." This seems like a serious stretch. It's an effort to twist existing laws just to punish this particular woman because people are upset by the outcome. Legal scholars are already quite worried about how the indictments appear to twist the law in potentially unconstitutional ways.
Why? Well, some of the charges are based on computer anti-fraud laws that prevent "unauthorized access." And, here's where the prosecutors got creative: they claim that in not providing truthful info to MySpace when registering (i.e., in breaking the terms of service), effectively Lori Drew "hacked" into MySpace's computers in an unauthorized manner. Now, no matter what you think of what Lori Drew did (or what happened as a result), this would basically make anyone who fails to follow the exact terms of service of an online service a potential felony hacker. That is a problem. I recognize the desire to punish someone for what happened to Megan -- but twisting the law this way will have very dangerous consequences.
Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
Today show
I saw this on the Today Show just a few minutes ago. They had the mother on the show who was claiming that 20 years of a sentence would not be enough and that the lady should be put away for life. They then put a woman on who said "it's about time." I about lost it in the living room. I thought this is crazy at best and horribly bad and potentially negative trend setting at worst.
I think this is absolutely horrible no doubt, but the last thing I want is to be sent to jail for looking at kid the wrong way. Wrong? yes, but wrong enough to send the woman to jail? Not if it is going to set bad trends like this.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Good point
I passed over that story quickly with the usual reacton - sad, bad, and totally avoidable.
But your last paragraph got me thinking - I routinely give fake info when registering for various things - it's amazing teh amount of info some sites look for in order to do something mundane;
For example Ryanair - just to get to the final price of the tickets (after all the add-ons, taxes & charges), you have to provide all the passenger details, addressing information, baggage information... If I'm just checking out prices, I'm not going to give 'em all that, and I don't. Does that make me a felon for using their resources (pretty heavy ones at that, finding flights, finding seats, calculating prices...) whilst providing incorrect data??
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
What about using the US mail to send bully letters to the mentally unstable? If one jumps of a building can you be arrested?
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
bad cases make bad laws
I do believe Lori Drew needs to be prosecuted, or tarred and feathered, for what she did. And I do believe this site underestimates the importance of real life protections for criminal on line behaviour.
All that said, this is a bad application of the law, the conspiracy charge I get, the others I do not. Ms. Drew is many things, several of them criminal, but “hacking” clearly is not one of her crimes.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: bad cases make bad laws
I would like to ask, as you say she should be prosecuted, which laws should she be prosecuted for?
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: bad cases make bad laws
depraved indifference to life, consumer fraud, misrepresentation with the intent to commit fraud. Assault, conispiricy to assult.
that is just off the top of my head, I would think a real lawyer could come up with a few more.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
I hate to say it...
...but there oughtta be a law against that. Unfortunatley, the odds are strong that it will be a bad law. So maybe there shouldn't be a law against it.
When I was young we had to deal with all sorts of bullies all the time. You got thick skin and learned to deal with it. The fact that the harassment resulted in a girl with emotional problems (and what 13 year old girl doesn't have some kind of emotional problems?) to kill herself is incredibly tragic.
The problem here isn't that someone used a computer to do something. The computer was merely incidental. As someone else pointed out, you could have done the same thing via postal mail or some other medium, so trying to use computer laws doesn't make sense in this case. The crime (if any was committed) was the harassment. It's a shame that the state laws don't allow her to be prosecuted. Usually they charge people with manslaughter for accidentally causing someone's death, right? I suppose that probably doesn't apply when the victim commits suicide though, that probably limited the prosecutor's options quite a bit and they declined to prosecute something that wouldn't stick.
Of course, they could have just decided not to deal with criminal charges and left it to the families to sort it out with a civil suit. I believe that there is probably a strong case here for a wrongful death case, or something similar. Not only are they more likely to win such a case, but it also seems like a more appropriate use of law than trying to twist something that doesn't fit in the slightest and has implications that are far further reaching than most people realize.
When I saw the headline that the mother was being prosecuted, I thought it was a good idea. Now that I see how they're doing it, I'm 100% opposed to it.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Guess i better stop using fake info for my yahoo mail account. yet another reason to hate Lori Drew and her bastard kid.
The prosecuters should focus more on the "world would be better off without you" qoute and try bending the law to make that illegal instead. I could kinda see how that could be criminal neglagence.
And now i have to explain why just because i dont agree with the charges aginst her i still dont support her to all my friends and neighbors
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Re: bad cases make bad laws
"that is just off the top of my head, I would think a real lawyer could come up with a few more."
You would think so,but they tried and none of them fit.
No matter how tragic what happened you can't twist law to suit public oppinion.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Stories abound about this tragic tale.
I think Lori Drew does need prosecution, however, I'm not sure that they are going about it with the right charges.
It's a sort of horrific borderline case.
Then again, I'm not a lawyer (not even on TV) so I don't understand the intricacies.
I mean, this woman, an "adult" 1) personally knew the child was mentally unstable and prone to depression 2) knowingly embarked on a cruel hoax against aforementioned child in an effort to protect/redeem/revenge her own precious snowflake. It wasn't one statement designed to "end the friendship". She convinced that young girl that a boy loved her, cultivated the relationship, then turned it nasty. To me that's reckless endangerment...
I don't think it's appropriate for her to be charged with murder...but getting off scott-free with an "oopsy! Did I do that?" isn't appropriate either.
I weep for humanity that someone out there thought it was perfectly ok to do something like that.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
bad decisions
I'm surprised they didn't try going with some type of harassment lawsuit instead. That tends to be a big one nowadays.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Good points...
This is a tragic story and the people involved with tricking this poor girl need to be punished. But, the route that they are trying to take this is going to set a precident that will implicate thousands of people of the same crime. I mean, how many people have, either multiple myspaces (maybe a personal one and a business one) or just use nicknames. I would wager that a great many people don't use any real information on this site. Does that make them all guilty of felony hacking? I don't think that everyone would ever be charged. But, the minute someone wanted to take action against someone, they just prove that they are using a "hacked" myspace account, and bring up criminal charges. This is a very slippery slope they are walking. There must be some other routes they can take. http://www.custompcmax.com
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
lets not forget this girl was being medicated for depression, and other things, at 13...
If you would prefer to medicate your daughter, rather then talk to her, spend time and make her feel loved then you shouldn't be a parent.
At 13, living in the suburbs, you can't be depressed enoug hto warrant a huge amount of drugs.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Perhaps they don't mean it...
...perhaps they just plan to hound her with spurious charges until she commits suicide.
Only seems fair.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Re: Re: bad cases make bad laws
Being unfamiliar with law, someone may be able to clarify this better than myself.
Isn't it illegal to ask someone to do something illegal? Does that fall under some conspiracy to commit **fill in the blank here**?
I would think telling someone the world would be better without them would be the same as telling them to off themself.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Just curious
Wow, the majority of posters here seem to think this is a bad idea? I don't know of any ADULTS who are sexually harassing & bullying a minor child online....do you? Maybe you should be contacting the proper authorities since it appears you think this happens all the time?
I also wonder what opinions would be if this had been a 49 year old MALE harassing a minor female child? Just curious. And before you say there wasn't any sex talk, go read the indictments.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
she wasn't charged with "hacking"... FTA "accessing protected computers without authorization". if you create a false identity and access a service contrary to the terms of service and commit a crime, i don't have a problem with prosecutors going after her.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Conspiracy to induce suicide or suicidal tendencies?
Perhaps a new crime: Conspiracy to induce suicide or suicidal tendencies?
It is probably irrelevant whether this is achieved via real or virtual identities.
It would be comparable to inciting violence or racial hatred say. But in this case, it's like inciting self-violence or self-hatred.
Compare with anti-terrorism laws that prohibit inducing suicide bombers, i.e. in this case inducing someone to commit an act of suicidal 'terrorism' where the only victim is the 'terrorist' themselves.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
A potential solution...
A crowd of people should stand outside her house and give her a hard time 24/7. Follow her around shopping/to work, etc and stick it to her. They should do this until 1) she kills herself, 2) attempts to kill one of them, or 3) leaves the area -- at which time you begin the process anew until 1 or 2 happen.
Unless she has the means to get multiple restraining orders, this will probably be effective.
The nice part about this is it's not taking the law into your own hands -- since there is, apparently, no law that forbids goading people into killing themselves...
Come to think of it, could this be a new method of assisted suicide?
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: bad cases make bad laws
Conspiracy to commit suicide?
It was tragic what happened, but a key point here is that it was unintended. It was malicious, cruel, fairly stupid, and all three girls involved should be ashamed of themselves and owe some sort of restitution for their acts. But what should not happen is rwisting the laws in order to get revenge. It would be satisfying in the short term but would also pave the way for making our lives a lot harder to live. What she did was wrong, but it wasn't illegal, and trying to make it illegal in retrospect is only going to get us all in trouble.
It's not a crime for me to tell you you're a waste of space. (I don't hold such an opinion, I'm just making a point.) Now, I have no way of knowing if you have mental problems or not, and I don't think I could be reasonably held accountable for the actions you take based on an off-hand comment I make. I'm sure they intended to hurt Megan by saing what that did, but they didn't really mean she should kill herself.
It was tragic in all ways, but you can't make it a crime.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Wow. Techdirt has always been on the wrong side of this case. First of all, nobody was prosecuted for "being a jerk online". This case involved multiple ADULTS befriending and flirting with an under age CHILD in order to gain their confidence and manipulate them.
Kathy Sierra is harassed on line by one anonymous moron and it's the end of the world. A 13 year old girl is the recipient of harassment by fraudulent, ill-meaning **ADULTS** several times her age and it's just "being a jerk". Are you fucking kidding me?!
Since when is an adult posing online as a child and engaging in sexual conversations with a child (we know that at the least flirting went on) simply being "a jerk"?
I don't want people to be forced to hand over their documents and identity in order to get online. I don't want to revokke anonymity. I don't want to prosecute people for "being a jerk". But I do want this specific individual and her family to pay. If they had harassed her to half this degree IN MEATSPACE, nobody would have tolerated it. This case goes FAR BEYOND simply "punishing someone for being a jerk".
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Umm I have a problem with this line...
"That is a problem. I recognize the desire to punish someone for what happened to Megan " Whoa! lets stop there What was don't to Megan was not nice. She was treated poorly. However keep in mind the person ultimately responsible for Megan and what happened to her was Megan.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Prosecutors Go Overboard In Indicting Woman Involved In MySpace Hoax That Resulted In Suicide
Suppose you know an old man has already heart problems , if you call him and as a lie tell him your son died in an accident today, and the old man dies because of the resulting heart attack, is this freedom of speech or actually you murdered him? the same is here, Lori Drew knew that Megan had "ADD" problem.Watch 04:20 of the clip below,as her attorney admits this :
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cnPMpu1nJ2k
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
All of those here that THINK that this wasn't justified!
What this ADULT did resulted in the death of a CHILD. She is accountable and should be held responsible for her actions.
Involuntary manslaughter at least and 20+ years IS what she deserves and then maybe others won't think that this is acceptable behavior from an ADULT!
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Perhaps they don't mean it...
I guess taking her in and locking up her on a preemptive suicide watch is overkill.
hey should at least make her miserable for the rest of her life but she did a pretty good job of that already.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Serves em right
"It was tragic what happened, but a key point here is that it was unintended. It was malicious, cruel, fairly stupid, and all three girls involved should be ashamed of themselves and owe some sort of restitution for their acts. But what should not happen is rwisting the laws in order to get revenge."
WRONG! Just because an end result of your action was not intended does not mean that a harsh punishment should not be put in place! If this was your child you have a different opinion. The "Adult", who was 49 FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, was quite aware that that poor girl suffered from depression and other things of that nature. I think the harshest punishment should be put in place in the hopes that it will prevent future malicous attacks on people. Afterall, if you are the cause of an accident because of talking on your cellphone and not paying attention and that accident results in a death, you were not being malicious, but your neglect and disregard for the people around you should warrent, at a minimum a manslaughter charge.
Thats my opinion. Good topic of debate!
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
And I don't think that it is JUST about giving false info , It is about giving false info to gain access to something in the act of a crime that lead to the death of a minor.
You read way to much into this
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Missing the Point
Everyone is forgetting that a 13 year old killed herself. Everyone is worried about their own selves and being able to do whatever they want online. Why is forcing people to follow the Conduct or Rules on a site a bad thing, isn't that why they are there? Was this girl suicidal before this, I doubt it. Saying Megan is responsible for Megan is partly true, but she was 13, being manipulated by a pathetic adult who has so little of a a life she has time to get involved with her daughters petty squabbles. Is the mother so proud she was able to manipulate a 13 year old, I hope she gets "manipulated" in prison.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Al Capone
They nailed Al Capone on tax evasion charges, not the racketeering charges they initially sought and yet most of us don't feel the least bit sorry for Al Capone. In the same way, I don't feel the least bit sorry for Lori Drew. She put herself in position to conspire to harass Megan via fraudulent means. No matter how you look at it conspiracy, harassment and fraud are a part of the actions she took, if they don't have a law that specifically fits the crime then they have several smaller laws that will apply to each smaller action Lori took to accomplish her nastiness.
She did use "electronic wire" to harass and there is a law on the books for that. She did illegally access a website to commit that harassment and there are laws against that illegal access as well; even if they normally choose not to prosecute because you don't want to give out your real name, the moment Lori's intent became to harass, she put herself under the scrutiny of the prosecutors and then they'll find any little thing you've done wrong and make it stick to you even if most of the country does the exact same thing.
They nailed Dr. Kevorkian for assisting people with suicide but the charge they got him with wasn't "assisting people with suicide". I'm all for Dr. K but he did put himself in a position to be scrutinized and so he paid the price. Lori Drew has done the same and I hope they stick it to her.
So enjoy those tears Lori, I know I am.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Missing the Point
I agree....but she was apparently suffering from depression prior, although that is no excuse. In my opinion it makes it all the worse. Provoking someone who is already vulnerable is disgusting.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Al Capone
Here! Here!
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
I'd have to agree that the woman should be punished - an adult deliberately luring a child into an online relationship in order to hurt that child deserves punishment of some sort.
The application of the law is bad. Find another way, or use another law.
Does anybody give the full truth in signing up for anything on the net? Hopefully NOT.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Just curious
Thats not whats being addressed here at all.
Whether or not she should be punished is getting mixed reactions in here.
Its the way the law is being applied. It may seem appropriate now, but one this has been set as applicable in this manner it'll start getting used for all sorts of cases that don't really warrant that sort of treatment.
Its about the precedent setting that this could do.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
I guess the part that has me the most confused is why it's not the girls fault? Honestly, if someone tells me to jump off a building, and I do it of my own accord, wasn't that my choice? Yes, this crazy old lady violated MORAL rules, however, legally I do not see how she did anything that could actually be upheld in court.
All the crimes they listed are simply absurd and not intended for anything like this. If someone thinks she acted immorally (as I do) that's fine, but it's very different than violating actual law.... politicians violate morality all the time, but I don't see many of them behind bars.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re:
Damn straight!
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: bad cases make bad laws
2 points:
You and I are both adults, Mrs. Drew was telling an emotionally disturbed child to kill herself.
Mrs. Drew knew the kid was depressed and on medication. As a supossed friend of the family, she has some duty of care not to taunt her and drive the kid to suicide.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: bad cases make bad laws
No, not "conspiracy to commit suicide" but rather "conspiracy to harass", "conspiracy to commit wire fraud" and both of those can be proven but most of us are all upset because we see that WE could be charged with a law that's been on the books since the 1980's and we simply chose to ignore it.
We see filling out the online forms as a tiny white lie but in reality it truly is a federal wire fraud charge; most people simply choose not to turn you over to the feds for this because you've likely done nothing else wrong but Lori went overboard and now she's paying the price.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Prosecutors Go Overboard In Indicting Woman Involved In MySpace Hoax That Resulted In Suicide
So?
Do you even know what ADD is?
I can tell you its nothing like being a hair away from killing yourself such as the old man with the heart problem was.
A group of full grown adults manipulated this little girl over a long period of time.
The ADD is irrelevant and your example has no comparison.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Problem & Solution
Lori Drew is scum of the earth, because what she did is despicable. Unfortunately, current laws don't appear adequate to prosecute her for her actions. Twisting current laws to prosecute her will only cause harm to our criminal justice system, and especially to all of us, in the long run.
Legislators need to stand up and take action. They need to pass laws so that scum like Lori Drew can be properly prosecuted for malicious actions like hers in the future.
I would suggest amending current harassment laws to make it a crime to harass another person using an assumed identity and persona, if the harassment is linked to any resulting serious bodily injury, but carve out an exception that remaining anonymous is not adopting an assumed identity or persona. This would essentially make what Lori Drew did a crime, without jeopardizing our rights to anonymous speech online, and without creating a law that says mere words themselves are harmful.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
#29 said it best:
I don't use my real information either on many online form, but never with the attempt to bully and manipulate a CHILD!
Throw the book at her and let every law that sticks determine her fate!
#23 said it also "And I don't think that it is JUST about giving false info , It is about giving false info to gain access to something in the act of a crime that lead to the death of a minor."
There is much more to this case then just that she gave inaccurate info online, Its about the end results mostly and what she did to get to that point.
Magusyk
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Anon Coward - 7:22am
wrong. doing what this woman did and casualy telling someone to jumb off a bridge are two different things. This girls suicide is a direct result of the actions taken by this woman. She should be punished just like every other person who has punished for a malicious act that results in death.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Good points...
"I would wager that a great many people don't use any real information on this site. Does that make them all guilty of felony hacking?"
Yes, it does as a matter of fact. The law has been on the books since the 1980's. If the owner of the site chooses not to prosecute, it's probably because you've done nothing else wrong and they have chosen to ignore your transgression.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Re: bad cases make bad laws
Bullying happens every day. Just go down to your local school and start arresting now. It is beyond reason that you would want this case to extend further than it should. The fact that it was online makes it no different than what happens in a school yard everyday. I guess since it was an adult, and don't get me wrong I am not condoning anything she did and I do think it is wrong...Fine give her community service or maybe 1 year of jail time, but racking up all these charges for an unfortunate event is just wrong and will snowball much further than it should.
Anyone that commits suicide does it because they feel that they are being mistreated by society often particular people. Should we be investigating every suicide and prosecuting anyone that person my have had a problem with? I hope not!
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
#43:
Your missing the point: If a 49 yr old bullies a CHILD on school grounds they are on their way to prison. If Lori was also a CHILD , we would not be having this conversation.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re:
Hi Lori,
I didn't know you were a Scientologist. Or are you Tom Cruise posing as Lori who is posing as someone who obviously isn't Lori?
Glad you can try to throw the blame on Megan's parents but since you don't know her situation and are probably not qualified to diagnose psychological issues, let's just say your response is simply crap.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
She is guilty of Morality and unethical behavior that is it. If the girl did not kill her self but was just mad we would not have heard of this. Was the effect what we are punning? I personally think what she did was wrong. But what was it illegal? This is a good topic to discuss in an ethics class. Ethics is a higher standard then the law. Just becuse something is not ethical does it make it illegal. If I told some one to drop dead and they decide to jump off a building should I go to jail????
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Perhaps they don't mean it...
lol
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: #46 Gary
That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard! We would not be hearing about it because she would only be MAD...NOT DEAD! We are hearing about it because she is dead.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Re: Re: bad cases make bad laws
Bullying surely does happen every day, you're right, but it doesn't happen every day where a 49 year old bullies a 13 year old. When that happens, there is prison time and no one blames the 13 year old for it.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Anon Coward - 7:22am
The problem is the definition of a malicious act. Regardless of how immoral something someone does maybe, there has to be an exact criminal law violated for it to be a legal matter. If lying to someone about their identity and later offhandedly telling them the world would be better of without them is shown to be a true violation of some crime, at least half the people on the dating scene will be arrested.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Umm I have a problem with this line...
You could say that if Megan were also 49 years old but she was only 13.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
I think the mother of the suicide girl should be punished
If anyone is to be punished, its the mother of the dead girl. there is obviously some poor parenting going on. If a child isnt emotionally secure enough to avoid suicide, I believe its the parents fault. If the parents had been supportive enough, maybe the child would have realized that she could have went to her Mother and Father for help when she felt so broken hearted.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Re: Anon Coward - 7:22am
MALICE- desire to see another experience pain, injury, or distress. malice implies a deep-seated often unexplainable desire to see another suffer.
There is no question in regards to wether this was malicious. The definition is cut and dry.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: I think the mother of the suicide girl should be punished
wow. you might want to do some reading on the topic of depression before you make ignorant comments like that.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: I think the mother of the suicide girl should be punished
Hi Lori!!
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Oh give me a break...the dead girl's mother should be punished? I don't believe I've ever met a perfect parent.
Seems to me the other woman was a predator - that's wrong no matter how you look at it.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Liam
lets not forget this girl was being medicated for depression, and other things, at 13...
If you would prefer to medicate your daughter, rather then talk to her, spend time and make her feel loved then you shouldn't be a parent.
At 13, living in the suburbs, you can't be depressed enoug hto warrant a huge amount of drugs
As a clinical psychologist I see young people like this all the time. Your assumption that the parents are just filling their daughter with pills because they don't care about her is not only likely incorrect, it is ignorant of the facts and blames the victim.
Depression often has as much to do with biology as it does with psychology. I've had parents, who are very much involved, frantic because they know their child is depressed and they have tried everything they know to do and it hasn't worked.
Also, just because you live in the suburbs doesn't mean your life is an easy ride. You have no idea what she was struggling with in her life. Where she lived made no difference.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: I think the mother of the suicide girl should be punished
She was a child. the parent should have seen the signs of depression. If they were more involved in their kids lives, maybe they could have prevented this. The world is a cruel place, so should we go out and prosecute everyone that says something to make us feel bad? Geez... get some skin.
Besides, if the parents were paying more attention to their childrens surfing habits, they would have seen what was going on.
I guess your one of those folks who think we should censor everything to "save the children" when in reality, the parents should be actually PARENTING and teaching their children wrong from right.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Re: I think the mother of the suicide girl should be punished
another ignorant comment. Do some homework on the story. The parents new of her depression and were taking the appropraite steps to treat it. Not being able to filter everything that comes into contact with your child doesnt make you a bad parent.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: Good points...
Actually no.
When someone violates the TOS, it's called breach of contract and it's a civil offense. No criminal court would touch it....
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
There's a time for legal action and there's a time for mob mentality. I say let the community sort out the stupid bitch.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
assisted suicide works for me
to blame, or not to blame, that is the question. If someone fails to commit suicide, the are arrested and charged with attempted suicide, spend months or years in psychiatric "prison". If someone is present when a suicide happens, and they know it is happening, they are arrested for allowing it to happen. Criminal case aside, it would be comical, if beside the wrongful death suit, that all the josh evans (or whatever the fake name was) also sued for impersonation, slander, and defamation of character. With stretches in the law with the criminal case, these stretches are minute in comparison
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
all of them should be punished
I don't think any of these laws should or could be used. It would distort them too much. I do think she should be punished along with the other kids that were making her life hell. They should all get a couple years of community service and leave it at that.
The person that should be at fault for the girl killing herself is the parents of the girl. She was unsupervised online and shouldn't have been. Plain and simple.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Perhaps they don't mean it...
"...perhaps they just plan to hound her with spurious charges until she commits suicide."
HAHA wow... thank you for that!
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
#64
That would be justice!
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Liam, your $cientology is showing
I'm quite surprised you didn't provide links to your anti-psych hate sites sponsored by CCHR.
What were the massive amounts of drugs Megan was on? How often did she take them? Was she taking them when she died? You don't know the answers to any of these questions, but it doesn't matter anyway, because according to ElWrong Hubtard, drugs and psychiatry are evil, right?
Yes, according to you, someone who is depressed just needs fresh air, vitamins and a good game of Monopoly with the family. Any 13-year-old will easily be able to thwart the actions of their 49-year-old neighbor who is attempting to manipulate them with cruelty and fraud, if only they could get hugs and smores with the family. You and Tom Cruise should get together. Wait, are you Tom Cruise? Sorry, I guess I got a little "glib" there.
You are retarded and a waste of oxygen. But please, don't go killing yourself. You might not like the new body your thetan picks up after the implant station. You might end up with a cruel neighbor who bullies you on the interwebs.
TT
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: all of them should be punished
so let me get this straight. You do not think that the "adult" should be punished for maliciously attacking a 13yr old girl, not to mention impersonating a minor in attempt to deceive while engaging in sexual dialogue......but you beleive that every 13yr old that gets on a computer should have a parent standing over their shoulder??
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re:
That would be (and should remain) a civil, NOT criminal matter.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Liam, your $cientology is showing
awesome. we should end this with that. Noone can say it better. Kudos.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re:
The problem is not that she "hacked" MySpace, it's that she harassed this girl and she should be charged for harassment or endangerment or whatever other legal terms would suffice. This is like charging someone for illegally discharging a firearm when he goes into a public building and kills a dozen people.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Scary stuff..
Lori's actions were wrong and what happened in the end was tragic. But prosecuting Lori on computer anti-fraud laws, by for her using a false name, seems scary in the world of myspace.
I had a troubled teenager living with me that was addicted to myspace. His mother was a real work of art, didn't want him and so I took him in. I tired every effort to block him from that darn site through parental software and my router. I underestimated the kid and every time I returned home I'd discover had been on myspace again through the use of proxy servers. I battled blocking proxy servers for a while and then eventually gave up because it isn't possible to block them all. I couldn't block the internet completely because I'm a web developer and internet is crucial for my job and two of my own children also use the internet. Eventually the troubled teen got expelled from school and told him he wasn't going to live with me if not in school.
I moved him back to his mother's so she could place him back in school there. He wanted to live back with her anyways because she let him get away with what ever he wanted. I later found out she let him drop out. That b*%ch!
The one thing that bugged me the most was that he was ignorant enough to use his real name and town of residence on his myspace profile. I also discovered that the majority of the people he associated with on myspace listed their real names and locations as well. The teens would use their myspace accounts as public journals; announce parties, name and talk about their schools, and all sorts of stupid stuff. I think that people and especially children should never identity their selves over the internet.
If prosecuting Lori on computer anti-fraud laws forces users to provide their real identity on myspace then I'm scared for the underage adults that use myspace. It would be pretty unsettling if everyone had to give their real identity on myspace or else face the possibility of prosecution for breaking these terms. That would make children, whom are smart enough not to give out their personal information, more vonerable.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
I mean, really?
Who does that? What adult says to a 13 year-old "The world would be a better place without you"? It's evil. It really is evil.
I'm a bit torn here...I feel the adult who participated in the hoax should be punished. 13 year-olds are confused and very susceptible to the input of others. An adult, with a child of her own, should know this.
However, as much of a dick-move that was...it's not illegal. Harassment at most. This is tragic that a 13 year-old felt the only way to escape the pain was to off herself...but the adult wasn't planning on that to happen.
I dunno. I'm just as confused about this as the rest of the people in this thread.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
While I certainly don't condone the actions of the adult being charged, I do have this question:
If Lori Drew can be charged (see the first link in the second paragraph) for fraudulent access to MySpace, why isn't the dead teen's underage access to MySpace also considered a crime, and her parents charged for the same "fraudulent" access?
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Wrongful Death
I agree with you 100% and that Megan's mom's best chance of any type of resolution/revenge would be a wrongful death suit. I wonder, though, if the really tough part would be the fact that Megan committed suicide.
Perhaps an attorney could shed some light on the possibility of a wrongful death suit.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Isn't there an "accessory to suicide" law somewhere? ...what they got on Kavorkian. I think that would be an easier case than unauthorized computer access.
any lawyers care to opine?
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
The real Criminal ......
Is the mom of the 13 year old. Where was she when this little girl was building a relationship to the point that once the relationship fell apart, she killed herself? I thought the parents responsibility was to supervise the child, and protect her from these types of things? Sounds like negligence on the parents part. I would like to see her pay for allowing this to happen in the first place...
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SOMETHING BAD HAPPENED....SOMEONE MUST DO SOMETHING!!!
oh, they are doing something? and its stupid and destined to fail and will waste a lot of time and lead to bad laws or precedents in order to punish one person for what is basically a fluke and might lead to me being arrested for being mean to you all under the name Nipsey Ruseel???
my bad. carry on doing nothing.
dopes
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: The real Criminal
AJ, are you the parent of a teenager? Do you deal with teenagers on a daily basis?
Teenagers will do whatever they can get away with. If you start getting all up in the middle of their business, they're more likely to distance themselves and be more secretive and sneaky.
I will add, though, that the PC should be in a common area of the house (don't know where it was in this case) so that children will be less likely to try to do things they've been told not to do.
TT
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Something wrong still with Lori Drew.
While the law has a hard time protecting children online (beyond COPPA), clearly something wrong occurred. Lori Drew helped children demoralize a classmate. The outcome might be rare because it resulted in suicide but I see this a large problem. For example, when parents are involved, the playground conflicts of cheerleaders escalate. Because this is overt action against a child, Lori Drew's actions are different then simply ignoring a child being tormented by classmates as teachers often do. In the article, it assumes that Lori Drew did not want to harm a child. This is not believable based upon her actions. Lori Drew, as a parent, knew she could escalate peer torment and harm to Megan.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
So what if it had been a real boy
I fail to see how this woman did anything bad enough to go to prison. If it had been a real boy that broke it off with her and she killed herself, would he be going to prison?
Seems to me the kid that killed herself over an internet relationship might have had some issues going on. We all get dumped at some point in our lives and most of us survive it.
Now it was wrong of this person to impersonate a boy and they should be punished but putting a woman in prison for it is crazy. The only way I could say yes to that idea is if these people set out to make this girl kill herself, which I doubt very much.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
I would like for someone to prove that the world is NOT better off without her.
If you want to prosecute someone, prosecute the damn parents for not paying attention to their kid.
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Just read this on another blog about this story, dont know if it has been said here or not.
The charge is NOT for violating the TOS........ its for violating the TOS with INTENT TO DO HARM.
Thus giving a false name to yahoo mail is NOT a CRIMINAL offense, giving a false name to yahoo mail then using that account to plan a crime/harras/illegaly spam ect IS CRIMINAL more specifically.
Thus this is really a non issue. Your interweb pron surfings are safxxors
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Well i see this thread is no longer about the TOS issue and more about weather Drew should go to jail or not, so in that case, I feel she should at least be sued in civil court if not given some light jail time 6 months or so. Her actions may not be the ONLY factors in megans suiside after all.
However she will probably burn at the cross for this, but hey there are consiquenses for every choice...... weather the consiquenses are fair or not is irrelevent up for speculation
(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Rediculous
This is ridiculous.
Suicide: Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the willful act of killing oneself.
Is it tragic when a child (or anyone) commits suicide? Absolutely! But face it people, if someone is at such a depressed level as to believe that suicide is the only way out then that person has serious psychological problems.
Perhaps the instigations online contributed to Megan's death. But so might have oppressed classmates, that failed test at school, an eating disorder, etc. I'm not saying any of these things happened to Megan but I am saying that there are always multiple contributions to psychological disorder. Typically, these are categorized