Intellectual Property Law

Lori Drew is charged with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

A federal judge in Los Angeles is considering whether to prohibit evidence of a Missouri teen's suicide from being introduced in the trial of a woman charged with creating a MySpace account that was allegedly used to harass the teen.

U.S. District Judge George H. Wu said on Monday that he believed the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier was irrelevant to charges that 49-year-old Lori Drew of O'Fallon, Missouri, violated MySpace's terms of service in allegedly conspiring with two accomplices to set up an account that was used to bully Meier. Wu said he thought a discussion of Meier's suicide would unfairly prejudice the jury, according to an Associated Press report.

Drew is charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of unauthorized access to computers after alleging creating a MySpace account for a nonexistent 16-year-old boy named "Josh Evans."

Drew and two co-conspirators allegedly provided fake information to MySpace to set up and maintain the account in 2006. The Evans account was used to flirt with and befriend Meier, who'd had a falling-out with Drew's daughter.

The fake "Josh" ultimately turned on Meier and told the girl that the world would be a better place without her. Meier already suffered from clinical depression, and shortly after that final message she hanged herself in her bedroom.

Drew has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and has maintained that she didn't write the messages that were sent to Meier. A 19-year-old employee of Drew has admitted that she sent the final message that Meier received before killing herself.

MySpace's user agreement requires registrants, among other things, to provide factual information about themselves and to refrain from soliciting personal information from minors or using information obtained from MySpace services to harass or harm other people. By allegedly violating that click-to-agree contract, Drew committed the same crime as any hacker, prosecutors maintain.

The use of the anti-hacking law to charge Drew was criticized by experts who said it set a dangerous precedent that could potentially make a felon out of anyone who violated the terms of service of any website -- a prospect that is particularly troubling, they said, because terms-of-service agreements sometimes contain onerous provisions, are often arbitrarily and unilaterally changed by companies, and are rarely read by users.

Judge Hu told prosecutors on Monday that he was leaning toward excluding evidence of Meier's suicide but would rule on Friday.

Drew's defense attorney attempted last week to have the case decided by a judge rather than have his client face a jury, but prosecutors blocked that move. Jury selection will begin next week.

See Also:

• Former Justice Dept. Prosecutor Joins Defense in MySpace Suicide Case
• Lori Drew Files Motions to Dismiss in MySpace Cyberbullying Case
• Experts Say MySpace Suicide Indictment Sets 'Scary' Legal Precedent
• Teen Involved in MySpace Suicide Hoax Says Adult Also Participated
• No Charges Will Be Filed In Cyberbullying Case
• Federal Grand Jury Issues Subpoenas in Teen Cyberbullying Case
• Megan Meier Suicide Stokes the Internet Fury Machine
• Prosecutor Will Review Megan Meier Cyberbullying Case