Myspace lawsuit: It was just over a year ago that we first posted about the Myspace suicide case. Lori Drew, a middle-aged Midwestern mom, allegedly created a fake Myspace account of a teen boy in order to harass 13-year-old Megan Meier, a neighbor girl who took her own life when her online “boyfriend” turned against her. Last week, Lori Drew was acquitted of the charges brought against her in the girl’s death, charges that revolved around violating Myspace’s terms of service when the fake profile was created. While most people agree that Drew is the bad guy in this case, they also agree that finding her guilty in criminal court would have set a dangerous precedent for the future.

If everyone who ever lied (or even stretched the truth) in an online profile could be convicted of a misdemeanor, the lawsuits would never end. And bullying with harsh words and body language is rarely a criminal activity; as this Wired article notes, “Bullying with no physical contact” is usually a matter handled by schools and parents, not the courts, and the fact that the bullying took place online doesn’t change the nature of the offense.

Drew will probably face a civil suit, and she’s already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion. But there was no reasonable way to send her to jail for this case without creating a means for selective prosecution of others who don’t tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth when they’re online.

Craigslist: You’ve probably heard of the case of the alleged Craigslist Killer, Philip Markoff, who prosecutors say met women from the online classified ad site and robbed them, eventually killing one. His case is currently in the courts. But now, there’s a new story about Craigslist that has a similarly creepy vibe as the Myspace story above: A woman allegedly placed a sexually suggestive ad on Craigslist inviting interested men to email and then call a phone number. That number, as it turned out, belonged to a 9-year-old girl who was evidently the woman’s daughter’s “rival,” and she was setting up the little girl out of revenge because of a dispute between the two girls.

Roughly 40 men called the number, including 22 in a single day, looking for the “cute blonde” mentioned in the ad, the targeted girl’s mom said. The woman who allegedly placed the ad, Long Island social worker Margery Tannenbaum, now faces charges of aggravated harassment and endangering the welfare of a minor. This is quite a bit more complicated than the Myspace case above… Tannenbaum allegedly gave out the little girl’s home phone number to dozens of men who were looking for sexual activity on Craigslist. That could have placed the child in real jeopardy.

Tannenbaum pleaded not guilty, and she’s due back in court July 16. Her case is a clear example of why giving out a phone number isn’t always “harmless” or “in good fun.” If she is proven to have placed the ad, then she didn’t just pretend to be someone else and bully a teenage girl; she handed over a young girl’s personal contact information to every strange man, well-intentioned or not, who replied to the ad. This, clearly, is just one reason why privacy matters.

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