Jury selection begins today in the trial of Lori Drew, indicted by federal prosecutors for using false information to create a MySpace account. Yes, that’s right: she’s not charged (pdf) with “cyber-bullying” or harassment or even causing the death of Megan Meier, the teen who committed suicide after she received mean messages from the accounted that Drew created. (Drew’s daughter, among others, had access to the account, too, and are believed to have sent the messages in question.) Lori Drew faces years in jail, under a federal anti-hacking statute, because …
Forget the over-hyped bogeymen net neutrality and the ever-more-omniscient Googleplex. The real threat to Internet freedom comes from plain old criminal law. In three weeks time, Missouri housewife Lori Drew will face trial for entering false personal details when she signed up for a MySpace account. Her indictment alone, whether or not she is convicted, should frighten anyone who’s ever filled out a form online. The case, which captured the tabloid media when it broke last year, turns on unusual facts. Drew, posting as a teenage boy, created the MySpace …
