Cyberbullies who caused suicide may be prosecuted

There are certain people you meet in life who are sociopaths. I don't mean this in a figurative sense, but in clinical usage. These people aren't just in jails. They're often successful folks, many of whom achieve positions of authority, and often they're good liars who get away with their con games for decades. (Think of the school principal who somehow stays in power and can't be criticized despite his incompetence.)

A sociopath can even be the financially successful 48-year-old soccer mom who shows no remorse for intentionally driving a 13-year-old girl to suicide by talking shit about her using a fake MySpace account.

This happened not long ago in Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, which prompted the town to outlaw online harassment. The ordinance was an attempt to shore up what state and federal authorities failed to do. But while federal prosecutors who cover Missouri dropped the ball in this case by failing to go after the harassers, the federal authorities who cover California are standing up and taking action!

Why California? MySpace is based in Beverly Hills. Prosecutors there say the harassers not only victimized the teenager but also ripped off MySpace and its other customers by perpetrating the deadly hoax - so it may fall under the wire fraud and online fraud statutes. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles is handing out subpoenas now.

It's an unusual approach to the case, but it's also very viable. Actions should have consequences. If it means a cyberbully who's old enough to know better might finally pay the price for killing a teenager, it's fair to prosecute this case as wire fraud.

Many in the media frame this as a free speech issue. Bullshit! The harassers' actions would never have been considered free speech 30 years ago if the Internet was popular then, and shouldn't be considered free speech now. Nobody should be taken seriously if they actually believe the First Amendment gives a grown woman a right to harass a 13-year-old through the Internet with the intent on causing her serious harm.

I want to see the "values" types put stopping cyberbullying on their agenda. They're always in panic mode over "violent" and "dirty" music and video games, but they're the first ones to defend online harassment as free speech.

(Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-myspace9jan09,0,5809715.story?coll=la-home-center)