Report: Feds probe Internet suicide

[Ban Hammer 14,293]

LOS ANGELES - A federal grand jury has issued a subpoena to MySpace.com in a probe stemming from the suicide of a Missouri teenager who received cruel messages on the networking site that turned out to be a hoax, a newspaper reported.

Federal prosecutors are considering charging a mother in the girl's neighborhood with defrauding MySpace by creating a false account that she, her daughter and a teenage employee used to fool 13-year-old Megan Meier into believing she was communicating with a 16-year-old boy, the Los Angeles Times said Tuesday on its Web site, citing unidentified sources.

It said its sources insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

Megan, of suburban St. Louis, hanged herself in October 2006 after receiving cruel messages from the fictional boy she had befriended online, including one saying the world would be better off without her.

The neighborhood woman, Lori Drew, has denied creating the account but acknowledged being aware of it. She also has denied sending any messages to Megan or being aware of the unkind messages.

Prosecutors in Missouri declined to charge anyone because no laws appeared to apply to the case.

A Missouri state panel formed by Gov. Matt Blunt after the suicide met for the final time Tuesday and said it would recommend making certain types of harassment a felony, such as if anyone 21 or older harasses people 17 and younger.

Several grand jury subpoenas issued last week included one to MySpace and others to witnesses, the Times reported.

Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, told the AP he could not comment on grand jury matters, which are secret.

Lori Drew's attorney Jim Briscoe told the AP that the Drews had not been subpoenaed, and that he did not know of anyone else who had received a subpoena.

"I do not know if it's true," he said of the report.

MySpace officials had no immediate comment.

Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola University Law School, told The Associated Press that if the government convened a grand jury it would be trying to create a case in which MySpace would be the victim of a fraud — meaning the person who perpetrated the fraud could be prosecuted.

"The whole case is curious," she said, and could raise First Amendment issues of free speech.

The Times reported that its sources said federal prosecutors in Los Angeles believe they have jurisdiction because MySpace is based in Beverly Hills.

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[Aymerlu 3]

Glad they're FINALLY doing something. I watched the family on Dr. Phil yesterday. His show was talking about internet bullying. I was shocked to learn how much really goes on.

[Nessa 23]

about time.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Glad they're FINALLY doing something. I watched the family on Dr. Phil yesterday. His show was talking about internet bullying. I was shocked to learn how much really goes on.

Shut up.

[no name 1]

Hmmm. They should.

[Alhamdulillah 0]

Where was the mother of the 13 year old girl, who (though it's not mentioned in this report but was mentioned in another report on the news this morning, had some sort of mental issues to begin with), while she was supposedly messaging back and forth with a 16 yr olf boy on the internet?

[no name 1]

Where was the mother of the 13 year old girl, who (though it's not mentioned in this report but was mentioned in another report on the news this morning, had some sort of mental issues to begin with), while she was supposedly messaging back and forth with a 16 yr olf boy on the internet?

[Alhamdulillah 0]

Where was the mother of the 13 year old girl, who (though it's not mentioned in this report but was mentioned in another report on the news this morning, had some sort of mental issues to begin with), while she was supposedly messaging back and forth with a 16 yr olf boy on the internet?

What? Are you her mother?

[Jenn! 918]

It's illegal to create a fake account on MySpace? I don't remember that being part of the agreement when I signed up (but like I ever fully read those anyway).

[no name 1]

Where was the mother of the 13 year old girl, who (though it's not mentioned in this report but was mentioned in another report on the news this morning, had some sort of mental issues to begin with), while she was supposedly messaging back and forth with a 16 yr olf boy on the internet?

What? Are you her mother?

um, no.

Everyone blames the other mother & yet no wonders what happened to the girl's mother....why wasn't she around?

[SMOKE 1,426]

lemme get this straight. so the feds are gonna charge someone w/ fraud for making a fake profile?

coz i see a big problem if thet do that.

Edited January 9, 2008 by SMOKE

[Alhamdulillah 0]

Everyone blames the other mother & yet no wonders what happened to the girl's mother....why wasn't she around?

Exactly! Watch your children on the internet people! To Catch a Predator

It's illegal to create a fake account on MySpace? I don't remember that being part of the agreement when I signed up (but like I ever fully read those anyway).

Does anyone use their real names on there? A lot of people could be going to jail soon huh?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It's illegal to create a fake account on MySpace? I don't remember that being part of the agreement when I signed up (but like I ever fully read those anyway).

One of my wife's friends was bemused after she set up a page for her 1 y/o baby - only to have her account cancelled for being "underage"

[no name 1]

http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=misc.terms

Please choose carefully the information you post on MySpace.com and that you provide to other Users. Your MySpace.com profile may not include the following items: telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, and any photographs containing nudity, or obscene, lewd, excessively violent, harassing, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable subject matter. Despite this prohibition, information provided by other MySpace.com Members (for instance, in their Profile) may contain inaccurate, inappropriate, offensive or sexually explicit material, products or services, and MySpace.com assumes no responsibility or liability for this material. If you become aware of misuse of the MySpace Services by any person, please contact MySpace or click on the "Report Inappropriate Content" link at the bottom of any MySpace.com page.

---

Content/Activity Prohibited. The following is a partial list of the kind of Content that is illegal or prohibited to post on or through the MySpace Services. MySpace.com reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in MySpace.com's sole discretion, violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending communication from the MySpace Services and terminating the Membership of such violators. Prohibited Content includes, but is not limited to Content that, in the sole discretion of MySpace.com:

1. is patently offensive and promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;

2. harasses or advocates harassment of another person;

3. exploits people in a sexual or violent manner;

4. contains nudity, violence, or offensive subject matter or contains a link to an adult website;

5. solicits personal information from anyone under 18;

6. provides any telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, URLs or email addresses;

7. promotes information that you know is false or misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous;

8. promotes an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person's copyrighted work, such as providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacture-installed copy-protect devices, or providing pirated music or links to pirated music files;

9. involves the transmission of "junk mail," "chain letters," or unsolicited mass mailing, instant messaging, "spimming," or "spamming";

10. contains restricted or password only access pages or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);

11. furthers or promotes any criminal activity or enterprise or provides instructional information about illegal activities including, but not limited to making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone's privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;

12. solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other Users;

13. involves commercial activities and/or sales without our prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, or pyramid schemes;

14. includes a photograph of another person that you have posted without that person's consent; or

15. for band and filmmaker profiles, uses sexually suggestive imagery or any other unfair, misleading or deceptive Content intended to draw traffic to the profile.

The following is a partial list of the kind of activity that is illegal or prohibited on the MySpace Website and through your use of the MySpace Services. MySpace.com reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in MySpace.com's sole discretion, violates this provision, including without limitation, reporting you to law enforcement authorities. Prohibited activity includes, but is not limited to:

1. criminal or tortious activity, including child pornography, fraud, trafficking in obscene material, drug dealing, gambling, harassment, stalking, spamming, spimming, sending of viruses or other harmful files, copyright infringement, patent infringement, or theft of trade secrets;

2. advertising to, or solicitation of, any Member to buy or sell any products or services through the MySpace Services. You may not transmit any chain letters or junk email to other Members. It is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from the MySpace Services in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any Member without their prior explicit consent. In order to protect our Members from such advertising or solicitation, MySpace.com reserves the right to restrict the number of emails which a Member may send to other Members in any 24-hour period to a number which MySpace.com deems appropriate in its sole discretion. If you breach this Agreement and send unsolicited bulk email, instant messages or other unsolicited communications of any kind through the MySpace Services, you acknowledge that you will have caused substantial harm to MySpace.com, but that the amount of such harm would be extremely difficult to ascertain. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you agree to pay MySpace.com $50 for each such unsolicited email or other unsolicited communication you send through the MySpace Services;

3. covering or obscuring the banner advertisements on your personal profile page, or any MySpace.com page via HTML/CSS or any other means;

4. any automated use of the system, such as using scripts to add friends or send comments or messages;

5. interfering with, disrupting, or creating an undue burden on the MySpace Services or the networks or services connected to the MySpace Services;

6. attempting to impersonate another Member or person;

7. for band profiles, copying the code for your MySpace Player and embedding it into other profiles or asking other Members to embed it into their profiles;

8. using the account, username, or password of another Member at any time or disclosing your password to any third party or permitting any third party to access your account;

9. selling or otherwise transferring your profile;

10. using any information obtained from the MySpace Services in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person;

11. displaying an advertisement on your profile, or accepting payment or anything of value from a third person in exchange for your performing any commercial activity on or through the MySpace Services on behalf of that person, such as placing commercial content on your profile, posting blogs or bulletins with a commercial purpose, selecting a profile with a commercial purpose as one of your "Top 8" friends, or sending private messages with a commercial purpose; or

12. using the MySpace Services in a manner inconsistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.

One of my wife's friends was bemused after she set up a page for her 1 y/o baby - only to have her account cancelled for being "underage"

Well, they did break the terms.

Eligibility. Use of and Membership in the MySpace Services is void where prohibited. By using the MySpace Services, you represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (B) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; © you are 14 years of age or older; and (d) your use of the MySpace Services does not violate any applicable law or regulation. Your profile may be deleted and your Membership may be terminated without warning, if we believe that you are under 14 years of age.

Edited January 9, 2008 by devilette

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Where was the mother of the 13 year old girl, who (though it's not mentioned in this report but was mentioned in another report on the news this morning, had some sort of mental issues to begin with), while she was supposedly messaging back and forth with a 16 yr olf boy on the internet?

What? Are you her mother?

um, no.

Everyone blames the other mother & yet no wonders what happened to the girl's mother....why wasn't she around?

Well it seems to me that the other woman is being blamed because as a supposedly responsible adult, she (allegedly of course) acted in a very immature and spiteful manner and this was the result. I can't imagine she is to strictly "blame" for the suicide - but bullying aside I think that has to weight on her conscience somewhat.

To be fair its hard to make any reasonable determination on what were the causes and triggers for this suicide. By definition the teenage years are typically when kids start to test their boundaries and distance themselves somewhat from parental authority. I think given that the family has ultimately lost their daughter - the grief of which can really only be imagined (let alone with all the media and public scrutiny over this as an outrage story of the week) I find it rather hard to fault the parents at all.