This is such an interesting development in the cyberbullying case of Megan Meier of Dardenne Prairies, MO. You'll remember her poor parents could not find protection in the law to go after Lori Drew, the parent who supposedly concocted the fake MySpace identity that cyberbullied Megan and led to her suicide. Now, the Grand Jury in Los Angeles has issued subpoenas to gather evidence that fraud may have been committed against the MySpace company - which is based in Beverly Hills and within the LA Grand Jury jurisdictional region. A novel approach to gain some level of justice in this case but one that will definitely raise many interesting discussions about the nature of online communication, online privacy and protection and freedom of speech. Here's the LA Times article:
I mean, should any of us expect to have the right to post in complete anonymity just because we are online? Even letters to the editor of newspapers require some legitimate postal address or email address in order to provide comment. This means, someone could check back with you for follow up or to check a fact or comment. In today's online world, fiction is presented as fact, and all opinions are counted equally. Not everyone reacts to the vicious online world as poor little Megan did, but when we allow our children with unfettered access to the free-wheeling online world, we risk these tragic outcomes.