MySpace suicide trial - is lying in cyberspace a federal offence?

Should you be sent to prison for maliciously lying on MySpace or any other social networking site? That is one of the central questions of the big MySpace suicide trial that starts this week in Los Angeles. Here is a brief synopsis of the case.

Lori Drew, 49, is charged with helping to create a false MySpace identity that was used to harass Megan Meier, 13, above, who then committed suicide.

Ms Drew, of O'Fallon, Missouri, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and accessing computers without authorisation. The 13-year-old, who was being treated for depression, hanged herself after reading a message stating that the world would be better off without her.

Ms Drew is accused of enlisting her own daughter and an 18-year-old assistant to taunt Megan and entice her into an internet romance with a boy who did not exist.

For about six weeks in 2006, Ms Drew and the others allegedly registered as a MySpace member under a phoney name. The indictment says they then proceeded "to torment, harass, humiliate, and embarrass" Megan.

They posted a picture of a boy, called him "Josh" and flirted with Megan, telling her she was "sexi". Megan was told "Josh" was moving away, prompting the girl to write: "aww sexi josh ur so sweet if u moved back u could see me up close and personal lol." Several days later, "Josh" urged the girl to call and added: "i love you so much."

Then "Josh" wrote to the girl and told her the world would be a better place without her. Megan hanged herself the same day, and Ms Drew and the others deleted the information in the account.

Experts say the case could break new ground in internet law. The statute used to indict Ms Drew usually applies to internet hackers who illegally access accounts to get information. It has not been used to prosecute someone for sending messages.

MySpace - full disclosure: MySpace and The Times are owned by the same parent company - has said it "does not tolerate cyberbullying" and is cooperating fully with the US attorney.

MySpace members agree to abide by terms of service that include, among other things, not promoting information they know to be false or misleading; soliciting personal information from anyone under age 18 and not using information gathered from the website to "harass, abuse or harm other people."

At the end of last week the judge in the case ruled that evidence about the suicide can be used by prosecutors. Ms Drew's lawyer had argued the suicide evidence would lead jurors to focus on the death, rather than whether Ms Drew violated the terms of service of MySpace.

It should be emphasised that Ms Drew is not being prosecuted for causing Megan's suicide. Certainly there are those who want her to pay for what she allegedly did and see this prosecution as one way of achieving that. But there are others who see that the case might set a dangerous precedent. Some are worried about the freedom of speech implications of effectively convicting someone of lying on the internet.

Whichever way the case goes, lawyers are predicting it will be appealed to the higher courts.

Picture courtesy AP