For Lori Drew, "MySpace" may be a prison cell

THIS SPACE IS RESERVED . . . .HA! HA!

Okay, I know this blogpost is a bit. . . . ehh, empty at the moment. But, considering that when I wrote my last one on the Second Life divorce, I was beaten to the punch by Lauren Van. Its a dog-eat-dog world when you're an internet sleuth trying to scratch and claw up the ranks of Technorati. So, I decided to do the only decent, honest thing I could . . . . and completely screw everyone in class over by calling "SHOTGUN" on this breaking story:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/26/internet.suicide/index.html?iref=newssearch

Its about a 49 year-old woman, Lori Drew, who was just convicted of misdemeanor counts (and felony charges are being deliberated) for the suicide of a 13 year old Megan Meier. The short version is: Drew created a bogus profile of a teenage boy on MySpace, feigned a romantic love interest in Meier, who eventually committed suicide when the "teenage boy" (played by Drew) rejected her.

What kind of 49 year old loser actually takes the time to mess with the emotions of a 13 year old? I don't know. . . .but I'm sure THIS GUY can tell you.

I'd write more now, but I'm trying to get out of here for Thanksgiving. But, I heard this on the radio on the way home from work and, I swear to god, sped home so I could get this posted before being scooped again by Lauren Van.

Yes, I suck. I know this much!
Happy Thanksgiving



The big follow-up: okay, I'm back, what did I miss?

First of all, regarding the question "what kind of 49 year old loser messes with a 13 year old's emotions?" Well, as it turns out, THIS is that loser. Incidentally, does anyone else think she looks alot like Kathy Bates in "Misery?"

Lori Drew was indicted under a federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which has been used in hacking and trademark theft cases. Among other things, Drew was charged with conspiring to violate the fine print in MySpace's terms-of-service agreement, which prohibits the use of phony names and harassment of other MySpace members. In this case, no state (of Missouri) charges were filed, because there was no precedent, but federal charges were filed under the Fraud and Abuse Act because MySpace's headquarters are in Beverly Hills, CA. After the suicide, however, Missouri passed a cyber-harrassment law and federal legislation for the same is being considered.

"This was a very aggressive, if not misguided, theory," said Matt Levine, a New York-based defense attorney and former federal prosecutor. "Unfortunately, there's not a law that covers every bad thing in the world. It's a bad idea to use laws that have very different purpose."

This is going to get really, really interesting. With respect to the cyber-harrassment thing I'm tossed on the idea. Certainly there are some extremely dangerous individuals out there for whom the internet serves as an optimal vehicle to stalk, and possibly harm their victims and we as a society need to do something about that. But as for prosecuting individuals who create bogus ads, I'm not so sure. Now, I don't have hard statistics to back this up, but I'm also not one to let little things like "facts" get in my way . . . . many of you probably know that there are numerous fraudulent ads on MySpace, Facebook, etc. In fact, I have several friends who use free online personals like Yahoo, Match.com, etc and one of their biggest complaints is that so many of the ads are fake . . . . put up by pay services to direct them to another site (e.g., "hey, you like this guy/gal . . . . surely $20 isn't too much for the opportunity to talk to him/her!"). Are prosecutors going to start going after companies that post these type of ads? Are they going to start targetting people who put up "alter ego" ads to harmlessly live out some kind of fantasy, and prosecute them because someone on a receiving end feels wronged in some way? Or, if any of you remember the blogs on Second Life last week . . . . could a precedence like this bleed over into these kinds of sites? Granted, the whole point of the site is to be as fraudulent as one's little heart desires . . . . but what if that woman who caught her husband nailing a virtual prositute committed suicide instead of filing for divorce?

I think what we've witnessed here is a rather pivotal moment in our judicial system. And I'm glad that I, Bill Aschenbach, was here to bring it to you FIRST!

Please, get a (second) life!

Disclaimer: if you're reading this post with any expectation of technological insight, or any intellect whatsoever, please go elsewhere because you're in the wrong place.

Second Life. Even if you're as clueless as me, I'm sure you've at least heard it mentioned before. If you haven't, suffice it to say its an online social networking community on steroids. Basically, anyone who is dissatisfied with their life (read: 99.9% of the population) can create an alter-ego in this online 3-D virtual world and become just about anybody or anything they want.

Stuck at a desk in "Storage-B" at work? . . . . Second Life!

Got shot down by the cool guy or the hot chick in high school? . . . . Second Life!

Still living down the time you struck out in little league, or dropped that pass, and lost the big game for your team? . . . . Second Life!

Now, despite what you may think, I'm not here to bag on people who try to play out their fantasies. Hey, I had plenty of imaginary friends when I was a kid, and there's still that Elizabeth Hurley thing I'm sure will happen any moment now. But when I saw this story below, I knew I had to take to the blogosphere where tens of people would (be forced to for class credit) read my words.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/14/second.life.divorce/index.html

Basically, this story on the main page of CNN.COM is about two folks in London who met online in a chat room, dated and fell in love in Second Life, and were married in a lavish ceremony with hundreds of avitars watching enviously from their mom's basements. It was the perfect faux life, so how did this whirlwind romance end in divorce? Well, as it turns out the groom, 40 year-old David Taylor, couldn't stop hitting the "enter" key . . . . with another woman. Yes, you read that right . . . . his wife caught him having sex with a virtual prostitute.

"I went mad -- I was so hurt. I just couldn't believe what he'd done," (Bride Amy) Taylor told the Western Morning News. "It may have started online, but it existed entirely in the real world and it hurts just as much now it is over."

Now here's the part that almost made me do a spit-take on my computer screen: Amy and David Taylor were divorced in real life. I know, I know you have to follow me here . . . . they met in an online chat room, got married in real life and in Second Life, she got suspicious and hired a computer detective who caught him having online sex with a virtual prostitute.

I guess there are two things about this that are making my head hurt right now. First is the fact that we have people who have become this enmeshed with the virtual world. I mean, clearly these two had more issues than Super Mario bumping uglies with Lara Croft, but for crying out loud to stand in front of a judge and cite this as the reason for ending a marriage? We all need an escape from reality from time to time, but when I see stories like this I start to think this whole virtual thing is getting a bit out of hand. And, when I actually have to read 3 different accounts to distinguish what happened in real life and what happened online, I know things are out of hand! The second thing cramping my cranium is the fact that in the middle of a presidential election, an economic meltdown, etc CNN.COM actually put this on their main page. I could probably go on an on about how this is what results from a 24-7 continuous "news" cylce. But then again, this is the same organization who attempted to have a serious political debate show with a guy wearing a bowtie.

If any of you are wondering how Amy Taylor is faring these days, fret not. Since the divorce she's actually recovered quite well, and already met another love interest . . . . in World of Warcraft.