Lori Drew and Daughter
What Happened? What law was violated?[]
United States v. Lori Drew is the criminal case against Lori Drew for her violations against the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Drew was accused of creating a false MySpace profile under the name “Josh Evans” in 2006. Drew, posing at Josh Evans, contacted Meier via MySpace and began an online conversation in a flirtatious nature. The relationship turned when Evans told Meier that the world would be a better place without her in it. Meier committed suicide shortly after this conversation.
Drew was indicted on four different counts of violating the CFAA. The first count stated that Drew knowingly violated the CFAA by accessing a computer to without authorization and used interstate communication to inflict emotional distress. The other three counts are in regards to accessing MySpace servers to receive information about Meier, which is a violation of MySpace’s Terms of Service. Drew was found not guilty of the aforementioned three counts and the jury was deadlocked for a verdict for the first count. Drew was found guilty of a misdemeanor violation of the CFAA, but that verdict was later overturned by a judge.
The Computer Fraud and Abuse act is a very broad law that covers many activities performed through a computer or website. Some violations it covers are: acts performed against computers dedicated to government usage, malicious code or password trafficking, extortion of money or goods of value performed over a computer, and many more. (Cornell Law)
How did this impact internet law?[]
In regards to United States v. Lori Drew, her indictments in regards to the violations of the CFAA were considered too broad. The judge ruled that if the law were to include violations of a site’s Terms of Service, the law would be too overbroad and everyone who ever violated a TOS agreement would have to be prosecuted. (Lexology)