So, the law is starting to catch up with technology.

How these laws will all play out is up in the air.

Do you read and follow all user agreements? If you don't should you be liable to criminal prosecution? Does being anonymous on-line lead to abuses or allow honest expression? Would a requirement to prove who you are or to publish your real name affect how or where you post?

Are you or have you ever been a cyber-bully?

Any thoughts?

New cyber-bullying law is being used in St. Louis area
By Joel Currier
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/17/2008

Her enemies nicknamed her "Pork and Beans."

Eggs and thumbtacks were thrown at her car in August, police say. A week later, the 16-year-old St. Peters girl found a can of beans dumped on the car's roof.

Text messages — spurred by jealousy over a boy — soon filled the girl's cell phone. Then came vulgar voice mails: one caller even threatening rape.

As a result, prosecutors used a new cyber harassment law to charge a 21-year-old St. Charles woman.


Nicole A. Williams is charged with misdemeanor harassment. She is accused of sending harassing text messages to the girl and letting friends use her cell phone to leave threatening voice messages.

Her case is one of at least seven involving adults in the St. Louis area filed since Missouri's new cyber-bullying law took effect Aug. 28. Williams' is the first harassment case involving text messaging filed in St. Charles County under the new law.

Eighteen states now have laws targeting Internet harassment and cyber-stalking, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the fallout of the cyber-bullying case of Dardenne Prairie teenager Megan Meier, legal experts say the long-term impact of such laws is just beginning to take shape.

Illinois lawmakers passed a similar law this year, but it doesn't take effect until Jan. 1. The law includes prohibiting a website with third-party access that contains "harassing statements made for the purpose of alarming, tormenting or terrorizing a specific person."

Missouri's updated harassment law covers threats or communication that causes emotional distress, including electronic messaging on computers, text messaging and e-mail. Charges can be filed as misdemeanors or felonies.

Williams' lawyer, Michael Kielty, said she shouldn't be punished for what others may have said or written using her cell phone. Missouri's cyber-bullying law, Kielty says, is poorly defined and was passed hastily in response to the case of Meier, 13, who hanged herself in October 2006 after receiving hurtful messages over the social networking website MySpace.com.

"It's a knee-jerk reaction to a high-profile case that was blown out of proportion," Kielty said.

Last month, a Los Angeles jury found Lori Drew, 49, of O'Fallon, Mo., guilty of three misdemeanor counts of accessing a computer without authorization for her role in the creation of a fake MySpace account. Drew faces up to three years in prison and a $300,000 fine. Prosecutors in California, where MySpace is headquartered, charged Drew under the Computer Use and Fraud Act, which has typically been used in computer hacking cases. St. Louis area authorities said there were no applicable laws at the time to charge her.

Some experts say that even though cyber-bullying laws establish a framework for punishing those who use the Internet to harass others, those laws probably do little to deter such behavior.

Others say it will take a combination of the law, parental involvement and raising awareness to curb cyber-bullying.

Parry Aftab, a lawyer and executive director of WiredSafety.org, which Megan's mother, Tina Meier, has joined to raise awareness of cyber-bullying, says Drew's conviction will have a dramatic effect on cyber-stalking cases nationwide.

"Because of Megan's case, people are paying attention," Aftab said. "The laws will make a difference once people understand that there are laws and once prosecutors start using them. We need to teach (people) that what you do online matters as much as what you do in real life, because the Internet is real life now."

St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said he is glad authorities now have the ability to prosecute. But he questioned the law's effectiveness in preventing harassment.

"It's too early to tell if it's going to affect how people treat each other," Banas said. "I don't know if it has any effect — like any other statute — for those who don't think they're going to get caught."

A recent check of St. Louis-area courts showed prosecutors have filed two cases in St. Louis and one each in Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln and St. Louis counties alleging harassment or threats by adults via cell phone text messaging and e-mail. The only other local cases filed have been in Jefferson County juvenile court.

In St. Louis, two men have been charged in separate cases in November of sending numerous text messages to their ex-girlfriends. In St. Louis County, a Ballwin man protesting a proposed resort was accused in September of sending a threatening e-mail to Wildwood City Hall. In Franklin County, a Union woman, 28, was accused in September of sending harassing text messages to her ex-husband's girlfriend. The same month, in Lincoln County, authorities say a 19-year-old Belleville man sent at least 17 text messages to his mother's husband, who lives in Troy, Mo. And in Jefferson County, prosecutors in October charged a 17-year-old from Cedar Hill with writing death threats in text messages to a classmate stemming from a dispute over a girl.

Justin Patchin, a criminologist at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and co-author of "Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard," is skeptical that such laws will be upheld in courts. He said the laws fail to deter such behavior by young people because most don't understand what cyber-bullying is. However, Patchin said, the laws may be more effective in protecting children targeted by adults.

"The vast majority of these cases can and should be dealt with informally in schools with parents," Patchin said. "Once we start criminalizing minor forms of bullying and cyber-bullying, that's really going to draw too many kids into the criminal justice system."

The federal case against Drew has brought national attention to cyber-bullying, spurring the creation of local and state laws that may encourage parents to better educate their children about the dangers, said Thomas Holt, a criminologist with the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. But youngsters will continue to hurt each other online without thinking about the consequences.

"It's very hard to say that any 14-year-old with a cell phone who can text is going to think about a cyber-bullying law when they're communicating with peers," he said.

I have 2 things to say

1. Its about effin time.

2. If parents wouldn't let their kids loose with cell phones and internet access... and actually MONITORED what they did online and with their phones (I still don't think anyone too young to drive needs a cell phone...but anyway), this would happen much less because parents would be aware of what was going on and be able to stop it before it came down to stories like tragic little Megan Meyer.

I agree!!! But parents need to know what your kid is doing at all times. Thats the bottom line. The world is getting crazy......

OH I completely agree. The sad thing is parents think that just because they know their kid is on the computer or has a cell phone, that they know what they are doing. There are so many parental control tools now, and there's no excuse to not know. If you ask me the only purpose for a child under 18 to even have a cell phone is when they start driving, and only on hand for emergencies. I also see nothing wrong with kids using the internet as long as they are monitored, there's way too many sickos these days to turn your kids loose with a web cam and a keyboard.