In my part of the country, the case of the mom who was a participant in a Myspace hoax that ended tragically with a 13-year-old girl committing suicide is a big news. Please read the whole story here. On the McGraw Milhaven radio show this morning he interviewed the mother, Tina Meier, of the young girl. Basically the indicted mother, Lori Drew, was found guilty of posting under a fake profile. The radio host brought up an interesting point?
The host asked if it is a crime to make up a false profile? In his view, people make up fake profiles all the time, and that in itself is not a crime. Is he right or wrong? Sexual predators make up fake profiles and they are indicted. Investigators make up false profiles to catch these criminals.
The case did not get far in the Missouri courts because there is no law that speaks directly to what happen. A case could be made that our laws are not keeping up with the Internet. Since Myspace is based out of California, the case was filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Here is an issue where people in St. Louis are equally torn on what side to take: One side says Drew did a very ugly thing by creating a false profile to torment a young girl, and second side asks should Meier have been more alert to her daughter’s Myspace interaction?
Here we have a case that truly points to the ugly side of the Internet and how the laws are not keeping up with Internet crimes.
