Police subpoena MySpace over Meier suicide

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darkpikachu02

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Wire fraud laws may have been broken

Iain Thomson, vnunet.com 10 Jan 2008

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed MySpace in an investigation into the suicide of teenager Megan Meier.
The girl killed herself after being harassed by someone on MySpace, whom she believed to be a boy but who was in fact the parent of a schoolmate.
Dardenne Prairie, the town where Meier lived, has since passed laws against such activity, but the federal authorities had said that there was nothing they could do.
The case has sparked a national furore, however. The family behind the harassment has been forced to move, and legislators are considering a national online bullying law.
Police in California are now investigating to see whether they can prosecute the parent for defrauding the MySpace social networking website after she set up a false identity on the site.
Los Angeles police feel that they have jurisdiction since MySpace is headquartered in Beverley Hills.
"If MySpace is considered the victim, fine. I do not care at this point," Tina Meier, Megan's mother, told the Los Angeles Times.
"We have been begging for someone - anyone - to pick up this case. If the Drews can be charged, and even get the chance to be convicted, it would be a day I could be happy with."
Thomas P. O'Brien, US attorney in Los Angeles, declined to comment, but the Los Angeles Times cited an anonymous source who claimed that several subpoenas have been issued, including one to MySpace.
Former federal prosecutor Brian C. Lysaght said that such a prosecution would be "not as much of a reach as it might appear at first glance".
Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who specialises in privacy and free speech issues, suggested that the potential of this case to set legal precedent criminalising online speech is worrying.
"The right to speak freely online is hugely important. Whistle-blowers create pseudonyms," he said.
"So do many people who anonymously report on corporate or government bad practices."

Source link:
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2206928/police-subpoena-myspace-teen
Ben
 
I don't think it's exactly MySpace's doing if someone posts something like that. I mean, that's like investigating a library if someone meets to plan a crime there.
 
I don't think myspace should be considered a "victim", only becuase it was only used as a way to get the messages to the girl.

If it were fifteen years ago, I'm assuming this would've been executed through letters in the post office. Now, in that scenario, the post office wouldn't be prosecuted, would it?
 
Bah, I loathe MySpace for reasons like this, but the fucktard woman who sparked that girl killing herself should get every bit of the blame. Obviously the girl was a timebomb to start, but that doesn't excuse someone from getting her to do it sooner. Plus what kind of immature jerk would do this, I mean, really. I wish I could say that a PARENT would know better, but apparently I can't. MySpace shouldn't be the "victim", it's just a handy way for asshats like that to pull things like this easier.
 
They're considering MySpace the victim because technically, they ARE in fact the victims of the only actual crime that might have been comitted (under current laws).

It sucks, but "online bullying" and "driving a person to suicide by meanness" just aren't crimes as things stand. Fraud, however - and agreeing to a website's terms of service while falsely presenting yourself as someone you're not could certainly be argued as fraud - is. And if there was fraud, then technically the victim *is* in fact MySpace, since they're the ones the woman signed a contract (Terms of Services) with under false pretenses.

Legally tricky? Yeah, and I honestly am not sure the case would fly in court. But if police want to try it out? Let the bitch have hell.
 
Don't worry, Chris Hansen and NBC Dateline will always be there to protect your emos children from pedophiles and murderers!
 
Personally, I would like nothing more than to have MySpace, Facebook, and all those other crap sites shut down for good. Not because of the threat they pose on children or any of that crap. I just dislike them.

However, like Kurt Opsahl, I am worried about the kind of precedent that this could set. I really don't like the idea of getting hauled off to jail simply for telling some little emo-kid to go an hero.
 
Maybe I'm a horrible person, but if kids learned to take crap they get from others and tune people bugging them out instead of having a hugbox to run to, then the whole world would be fine.

But no. Everyone has to react like that. Everyone jumps to their next action. It's insane.
 
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