Legal News

Web suicide case with implications for fraud, cyberbullying and free speech on the Internet

By Jason Siegel

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles is issuing subpoenas charging a woman in Missouri for defrauding MySpace.com by creating a false account.

The woman, Lori Drew, allegedly posed as a 16-year boy on the website and sent cruel messages to one of her daughter's former friends.

The 13-year old neighbor, believing she'd been rejected by her online "boyfriend," committed suicide in 2006.

Missouri prosecutors said the actions weren't illegal under any state law. And so the case was brought to California, under the rationale that it had jurisdiction because MySpace.com is based in Beverly Hills, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The case could raise 1st Amendment issues on the Internet, Loyola Law professor Laurie Levenson told The Times.

An attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation told The Times he's worried that the case could set a precedent for criminalizing online speech.

"L.A. grand jury issues subpoenas in Web suicide case," Los Angeles Times
"Myspace Suicide Becomes Fraud Case," National Public Radio
"L.A. Grand Jury Investigates Web Suicide Case," The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on January 11, 2008 (boomark / email).