It's sad, but I'm sorry -- there's already something mentally amiss in a 13 YO who commits suicide because of a MySpace message.

BTW, according to our resident conspiracists on the WDC madame suicide thread a couple of weeks ago, females don't choose hanging as a form of suicide. So I guess this girl was murdered, too.

Goatman,

So you see nothing wrong in an adult engaging in this type of behavior?

726-
I don't think you'll find many people saying there's nothing wrong with the adult's behavior. Whether that extends to criminal/punishable offenses is a different story. I think there ought to be some punishment for such behavior. Exactly how much, not entirely sure.

Since the victim can't speak to her own mindset it may be an interesting case - perhaps highly subjective.

Goatman, doesn't matter if there was or was not something amiss, IIRC the so-called adult knew of the child's mental problems and still acted like this. No matter what, this adult acted irresponsibly and was a leading cause of the death of this minor child. Do you know any 13 year olds? They're not mini adults.

120 United States Iraqi Soldiers are killing themselves EVERY WEEK.

I would guess that they are unable to live with themselves after following orders to commit atrocities against innocent civilians. Some may be unwilling to live with their long term disabilties.

CBS broke this story last November, but it has been otherwise blacked out of the media. Doesn't fit the AIPAC-Neocon Agenda.

How do Israeli Soldiers cope with similar Orders?

Oorah,

We will never know just how much the adults irresponsible behavior contributed to the suicide, but if she knew that this girl had depression/suicide issues and then pulled this irresponsible idiotic prank with the punch line "the world will be better off without you", then in my opinion her actions are criminially negligent.

Adults should act like adults and not pull shit like this. She should be held responsible for contributing to this death.

120 United States Iraqi Soldiers are killing themselves EVERY WEEK.

I would guess that they are unable to live with themselves after following orders to commit atrocities against innocent civilians. Some may be unwilling to live with their long term disabilties.


According to some on the right the level of help that is available to the veterans returning home is more than adequate, so their should be no problems like this.

It is much better to sweep this issue under the rug and comment on whether or not a flag pin should be worn by a presidential candidate.... those are the real issues facing America.

I am having a hard time convincing myself that this is a criminal issue, other than maybe harrassment. Certainly a civil issue..

I also think that parents should keep a close watch on what their kids do on the internet for so many reasons. If I had kids, they would be the dorks that I was - no cell phone, no unsupervised internet at 13. I was still wearing Toughskins at that age after everybody else had long since moved on to Levi's.. Didn't like it then, but I get it now..

Pasted from Metafilter:

As revealed by the indictment, the "unauthorized access" results from various violations of MySpace's terms of service.

I'm no expert on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), but at least one court has found that violation of a company's terms of service constitutes "unauthorized access" for purposes of the Act. See America Online, Inc. v. LCGM, Inc., 46 F. Supp. 2d 444, 450-51 (E.D. Va. 1998).

The CFAA makes it illegal to, among other things, "intentionally access[] a computer without authorization or exceed[] authorized access, and thereby obtain[] . . . information from any protected computer if the conduct involved an interstate or foreign communication." 18 U.S.C. 1030(a)(2)(C).

The punishment for violating this subsection of the CFAA is a fine or up to 5 years imprisonment if "the offense was committed in furtherance of any criminal or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of any State." Id. (c)(2)(B)(ii). (Otherwise there needs to be some sort of pecuniary gain or the information gained needs to be worth $5,000 or more.)

So, how did Drew allegedly violate the CFAA? MySpace's terms of service forbid you from lying to MySpace or using your account to harrass other users, obtain personal information from minors, posting photos of people without their consent, etc. Drew broke all of these terms when, among other things, she registered as a teenage boy, got personal information from the 13 year old victim, and posted a picture of a teenage boy without his consent.

Because she violated MySpace's terms of service, her access to MySpace's servers was "unauthorized access." Her unauthorized access involved an "interstate . . . communication" because MySpace's servers are in California and Drew accessed them from a computer in Missouri.

Drew allegedly used her account and the information she received to harass the victim to the point where it constituted the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress, a well-recognized tort in Missouri (and, to my knowledge, recognized in all states). See, e.g., Central Missouri Elec. Co-op. v. Balke, 119 S.W.3d 627, 636 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003) ("To recover for intentional infliction of emotional distress, the [plaintiff] must show (1) the defendant's conduct was extreme and outrageous; (2) the defendant acted intentionally or recklessly; and (3) the defendant's conduct caused extreme emotional distress resulting in bodily harm."). Thus, her unauthorized access "was committed in furtherance of any . . . tortious act in violation of the . . . laws of the . . . any State."

Now, you could argue that the indictment may be an abuse of prosecutorial discretion, but I don't see how you can argue that this indictment is frivolous. On the contrary, it appears to be the product of good lawyering. Drew better hire herself a good criminal defense attorney.

"120 United States Iraqi Soldiers are killing themselves EVERY WEEK."

Hmmm...rough calculation says that so far approx. 32,000 soldiers have committed suicide. That pegs my bullshit meter.

"CBS broke this story last November, but it has been otherwise blacked out of the media."

Probably pegged the media's bullshit meter too. CBS was probably embarrassed and dropped it kinda like the RatherGate thing.

Now, you could argue that the indictment may be an abuse of prosecutorial discretion, but I don't see how you can argue that this indictment is frivolous. On the contrary, it appears to be the product of good lawyering. Drew better hire herself a good criminal defense attorney.

Posted by vickithebrit at 2008-05-16 10:40 AM

agreed Vickie, this woman not only violated the terms of service but by her actions caused grevious harm to a 13 year old child...possibly intentionally. She has a lot to answer for. I am glad to see her getting what she deserves now. People need to take responsibility for their actions in this world. If nothing else she will be wrapped up in the court system for years to come.