November 27th 2008
The Missouri mother on trial in the landmark cyberbullying case that originated from the MySpace-related suicide of Megan Meier has been found guilty of three misdemeanor violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. I began writing about the tragic suicide of Megan Meier just under a year ago. The post questioned the widely reported […]
November 27th 2008
This morning, LinkedIn began promoting its new User Agreement. #3 in its list of Don’ts is: (Don’t) include information in your profile or in Status Updates which reveals your identity such as an email address, phone number or address or is confidential in nature; Of course, simply by linking to the User Agreement, I may […]
September 1st 2008
LA’s Boy Scout Council has teamed with the MPAA to offer Scouts a patch for learning just how much it costs to make a film and how many people get hurt if you download it without paying. Really, take a look. Notice that the concepts of fair use and public domain are completely absent from […]
August 29th 2008
Two Years in Jail for File Sharing The National Center for State Courts has distributed 50,000 comic books and teachers’ guides to explain how courts work to America’s youth. As the Threat Level blog notes, the plot “reads like the Recording Industry Association of America’s public relations playbook: Download some songs, go to jail and […]
August 14th 2008
Kevin Gosper, chairman of the IOC’s press commission, disclosed that Olympic officials negotiated with their Chinese hosts and agreed that certain sensitive Web sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered Games-related. This would include Chinese language versions of the BBC, Voice of America and Amnesty International. Chinese officials noted that this […]
May 23rd 2008
Prosecutors in Los Angeles have brought criminal charges against Lori Drew, the 44-year-old woman who was the focus of outrage around the tragic death of Megan Meier. Since there is no law against cyberbullying, the prosecutors construed that when Drew registered under a false name, she was essentially making unauthorized use of MySpace’s computer system […]
April 12th 2008
Have you heard about the brutal beating of a 16-year-old cheerleader by eight teenagers, who recorded the assault for broadcast on YouTube? That’s right, the attack was both to get someone back and to gain fame. And naturally, the Net is being cited as the main culprit. Shelly Palmer blogs a fantastic analysis of ethical and media issues […]
January 31st 2008
Do hard cases make bad laws? The law continues to grapple with the tragedy of Megan Meier, the 13-year-old girl who committed suicide after allegedly being harassed on MySpace by the parent of a friend posing as a teenage boy. Some localities have passed constitutionally questionable ordinances to make online conduct by an adult that […]
December 5th 2007
The Case: The tragic story of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old St. Louis-area girl who committed suicide after being harassed on MySpace, has grabbed national headlines and inspired thousands of web readers to participate in a collective sorting of legal and ethical issues surrounding the case. Meier met a 16-year-old named “Josh Evans” on MySpace. Her […]
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