I debated where to post this article. I did because the issue of internet bullying is interesting.

There are good spots for it in computers, family, politics threads to name a few. I put it here although I would not be surprised if it is moved.

Still, I think it is appropriate to ask people to look at this and think a bit about your own behavior. Think too about where you spend your time on line.

How accountable are you to yourself and others?

What is your personal and moral obligation?

Do you think you even have one? After all, some think there is no obligation to community when posting on the internet.

Sometimes, actually most times, laws play catch up to technology. Logically this makes sense. It's fairly hard to make laws governing how to operate a car before anyone owned one. Even when cars were being made I imagine lawmakers would be hard pressed to imagine the number of cars on the road and every possiable legal implication of their existence.

The question here is about the internet. I don't think the law anticipated the internet and how we would use and misuse it. Did you?

What would a reasonable person do?

The case of Megan Meier, 13, took the nation by storm. The teenager was the victim of cyber bullying from a 47-year- old neighbor who impersonated an acquaintance of Meier. The case highlighted the rise of online anger and aggression, in particular how the internet is becoming a new realm for harsh bullying.

The saga of Meier's death began when neighbor Lori Drew created a fake MySpace account, taking on the persona of an attractive 18-year-old boy named "Josh Evans". Drew concocted the plan to get back at Meier for allegedly saying things about Drew's teenage daughter, Sarah, a former friend of Megan's. She hoped to gain Megan's trust and then use the information against her.

Full article at:
http://www.dailytech.com/Attorney+Argues+Nobody+Reads+User+Agreements+in+Cyberbullying+Suicide+Case/article13522.htm

I have been surprised at how much it goes on, even in an "adult" environment. Just because it's the "internet" doesn't make it any more acceptable, it just means people are seldom held accountable. I've yet to understand why adults do this sort of thing.

I would hope your post might make some people think more about how they treat others that they don't know.

Unfortunately, the bullying does goes on and it is sad that, like OMTA said, that is happens in adult communities. Nothing folks can do except ignore the bullys and keep moving along

Sadly people act can like asses when they are anonymous. Still there's obvious value in being able to share information on a large scale anonymously.

Does falsely representing yourself make a difference? What about intent? Is the fact that one participant in the communications was an adult who knowingly misrepresented themselves to a minor something that should be considered?

Is it okay when you know as this adult woman did because she knew the family to harasses and coerce a minor child whether it is to seduce them to commit sexual acts or in this case to commit suicide?

Had this child been harassed into sex I am pretty sure people would be outraged. Instead she was driven to take her own life.

Isn't anyone outraged?

yes I am outraged, why an adult would choose to take place in such a bad idea is beyond me. I have always been and shall always be a defender of the picked on and bullied, not because I was picked on but because it is the right thing to do.
Bullying happens because the bully has low self esteem and needs to bully someone to make theirselves seem superior.

Bullying is UNACCEPTABLE whether it be cyber or reallife. Look at Columbine. That actually took place because of jock bullying of those perpetrators. It doesn't justify the horrific crime they committed (not in the least bit!) but just think if the jocks had never bullyed them.

Kindness should be a way of life. Period.

Unfortunately bullying is a way of life as well.
weather it is a man being abusive to his wife(cowards) or on th net or the school or work.
Has no one ever heard that the meek shall inherit the earth? That is because all the bullies will kill eachother off

Those two weren't bullied. It might have been part of that, but it wasn't the main reason. They planned on doing it either way.

They actually did something on Law and Order similar to the Meier death. They combined that story and the story about those high school freshmen who had a pregnancy pact or whatever. It was quite interesting.

Anywho, Internet bullying is out there and it will always be out there. The internet is too big of a place to police, plus the fact of laws being completely different in other nations and such, the only way you can know who you can arrest is by checking their I.P. address.

an up-date

Jurors in MySpace case hinting at verdicts

By GREG RISLING – 7 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has ordered jurors to return and deliberate Wednesday after they suggested that they had reached verdicts for three of four counts in the MySpace cyber-bullying trial of a Missouri mother.

Jurors late on Tuesday, the first day of deliberations, gave a note to U.S. District Court Judge George Wu asking, "Can we be hung on one count but unanimous on the others?"

"I'm going to excuse for today and have you deliberate some more," Wu told the panel of six men and six women. "If the jury is still at an impasse, hand me a note."

Wu did not ask jurors which count was at issue, nor did he ask what the vote count was.

Lori Drew, 49, is accused of conspiracy and accessing computers without authorization for her alleged role in a scheme to create a phony profile of a teenage boy on the MySpace social networking Web site to harass 13-year-old neighbor Megan Meier.

Drew has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization. She could be sentenced to as many as 20 years in prison if convicted of all counts.

Megan, who was being treated for depression, hanged herself in 2006 after receiving a message that the world would be better off without her.

Prosecutors allege Drew helped invent an imaginary boy called Josh Evans who would communicate online with Megan to find out whether Megan was spreading rumors about her daughter. Drew's daughter was once a friend of Megan.

Prosecutors charged Drew under the Computer Use and Fraud Act, which in the past has been used in hacking and trademark theft cases. The terms prohibit the use of phony names and harassment of other MySpace members.

The case is being prosecuted in Los Angeles because MySpace computer servers are based in the area.

Jury convicts mom of lesser charges in online hoax


GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer Greg Risling, Associated Press Writer – 10 mins ago



LOS ANGELES – A jury has convicted a Missouri woman of three minor offenses for her role in an Internet hoax that apparently drove a 13-year-old girl to suicide.

The Los Angeles federal court jury on Wednesday rejected felony charges of accessing a computer without authorization to inflict emotional distress on young Megan Meier.

However, the jury found defendant Lori Drew guilty of three counts of the lesser offense of accessing a computer without authorization. Each count is punishable by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The jurors could not reach a verdict on a conspiracy count. The disposition of that count was not immediately clear.

Prosecutors said Drew violated the MySpace terms of service by conspiring with her young daughter and a business assistant to create a fictitious profile of a teen boy on the MySpace social networking site to harass Megan.

Megan, who had been treated for depression, hanged herself with a belt in her bedroom closet in 2006 after receiving a message saying the world would be better without her.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury has convicted a Missouri mother of lesser, misdemeanor crimes in the MySpace cyber-bullying case linked to a 13-year-old girl's suicide.

The Los Angeles federal court jury on Wednesday rejected felony charges of accessing a computer without authorization to inflict emotional distress on young Megan Meier.

However, the jury found defendant Lori Drew guilty of three counts of the lesser offense of accessing a computer without authorization.

The jurors could not reach a verdict on a conspiracy count.

Prosecutors said Drew violated the MySpace terms of service by conspiring with her young daughter and a business assistant to create a fictitious profile of a teen boy on the MySpace social networking site to harass Megan.

Megan, who had been treated for depression, hanged herself in 2006 after receiving a message saying the world would be better without her.

Sorry I didn't read far enough to see you'd already posted that!!


Bullying of any sort is wrong! That woman should be in jail rotting right now.

there called haters,

welcome to the www,

and i don't let them bother me i just say