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Kevin Rose's actions haven't resulted in the death of any minors. None of his six updates look like serious attempts to deceive or defraud anyone. You use of the word "simply" (Kevin Rose could be jailed for simply creating a fake Twitter profile... ) is hyperbole.
It isn't hyperbole to show how this ruling will be misapplied.
Wasn't sure if it was supposed to be like that, so I just thought of givin' you a heads-up.
Anyway, upon the issue of this case.. I do believe that she should be punished in the sense that she influenced the victim's emotions to an unstable extent, causing the loss of a life. However, that does not entail that anyone and everyone with a fake account should be held liable (as not everyone has caused an emotional unbalance in another).
I do understand that people have created fake accounts in the pursuit of privacy. And that Terms of Service are usually far too contradictory, and far more often than not go unread, so perhaps they should be kept straight to the point? But honestly, we're in an age where technology is [possibly far too] integrated into our lives. Shouldn't we at least be able to claim who we actually are online, or at least not create a completely separate personality? I mean, if you're so worried about privacy, just use a nickname, initials, or such and don't provide your cell or address, and make your email private. No need to invent a non-existent personality. Just my two cents.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Get back to me on that when Kevin's charged...
There should be a law against undue influence, or perhaps negative influence over a minor.
Who agrees?
There are any number of laws on the books that could have been more accurately applied. All this ruling does is open anyone and everyone up to arbitrary and capricious enforcement.
Last time I checked teenagers break up and say mean things to each other without it ending in suicide. As tragic as this case is, it's clear the young girl was deeply disturbed to begin with and even her parents did not know how much.
I think getting a myspace account to check what your kids are really doing online and if their friends are misbehaving is fine. In fact if the girl's parents had done that, they may have had more insight into their daughter's issues. Of course an adult should have known better than to have any part in the verbal conflict and certainly should have stopped it.
I wonder if the prosecutor will now go after all the people who posted hate message and send threatening emails to the defendant's family? Didn't those people read their terms of service too?
Using an alias is accepted.
An adult using a "alias" and saying they are someone else of a different age and gender for the purpose of abusing said child is what the law is meant to address. Sure , someone COULD pull you up on charges, but if you have done nohting, why would anyone waste the paperwork and overtime?
Lets switch things up a bit. What happens is a 47 year old man talks to a 13 year old girl and says he is a 16 year old boy. That will get you in prison faster than robbing a bank. But if you are the same sex and torture people, all the sudden we are all talking about how this invades our "Rights".
You can have all the aliases you want. You simply cannot use the First Amendment to justify torturing little girls. If it were ME, a man, who did this, I would be swinging from a pole.
If you ask me, Ill gladly risk being arrested for having two Steam Accounts or Yahoo accounts if it means we can throw *****'s like this in jail with the raping bull dykes they belong with.
You asked: "How could she know about her fragile state when the girl’s mother and family who lived with her didn’t know? Her Mom left her that day thinking she was upset but would be fine." I think it's been pretty well documented that a.) Lori Drew knew Megan Meier in some depth (her daughter and Megan had been friends in the past) and b). everyone involved knew that Megan had ADD and a history of depression.
A history of depression covers a huge chunk of the population the overwhelming majority aren't on the cusp of suicide. Further her history of depression did not include any harm to herself or hints at suicide. A depressed teenager is not uncommon.
The point remains if her own mother did not think there was any risk then no one else would have. Her mother spoke to her just hours before, lived with her, and did not ever think she would harm herself or even that is was serious enough to stay home with her. It stretches reason to think that neighbor could have more insight into this girl's frame of mind.
You obviously don't work with middle school kids. My wife is a middle school administrator and I am a disabilities specialist who's worked in a middle school setting. It is not uncommon for people outside the family to have more insight into particular aspects of a teenager's personality than the kid's family members. So your line of reasoning ("If Mom doesn't know, nobody knows...") is flawed.
That said, you're right of course that Lori Drew couldn't have "known" in an epistimological sense that her treatment of Megan Meier would result in suicide. Life isn't that predicitable. But, on a graduated scale, I can say that a). any adult in the late 40's likely has the where with all to emotional injury almost any child in their early teens given sufficient opportunity and commitment to the task on the adult's part and b). Lori Drew knew that Megan Meier had at least one mental disorder (as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual psychiatrists use to diagnose mental disorders) and was thus more vulnerable than most adolescents. It's not a binary question of "Yes or no: should Lori Drew have foreseen Megan's suicide?" It's something more like, "Should Lori Drew have foreseen that her interaction with Megan would have a negative impact on the minor child and to what extent is she responsible for that impact (whether or not she realized in advance how extreme it would be)?"
If a man starts an illegal campfire during a drought and a park range comes along, there's a good chance the man will get fined. If his fire gets out of control before the park range comes along and it starts a forest fire that burns down people's houses, he's criminally liable in most states - even if he claims he didn't foresee the possibility of a forest fire.
And as I've argued before, this isn't about rounding up everyone who's created an online account that didn't include their full or real name and having them jailed for violating someone's terms of service. It's about motive and intention when you break those rules - and about the actions and impacts that follow.