Report: MySpace issued subpoena in teen suicide case
The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that social network MySpace was issued a subpoena in the investigation of a 13-year-old girl's 2006 suicide that involved harassment through a fabricated profile on the News Corp.-owned site. The article also said that "witnesses in the case" had additionally received subpoaenas.
Representatives from MySpace were not immediately available for comment or confirmation. The social network is no stranger to court orders, having been subpoenaed by multiple state attorneys general last year over sex offender concerns.
But the tragic case of Megan Meier's suicide is a very different situation; my colleague Ina Fried has been following the issue closely on her Beyond Binary blog. Meier, who had a history of depression, hanged herself after a falling out with someone named "Josh" whom she thought was a 16-year-old boy on MySpace. As it turns out, "Josh" didn't exist; the persona was created by a number of adults, including a woman named Lori Drew, the mother of one of Meier's former friends, specifically to harass the girl.
But no charges have been filed yet, despite the efforts of local and state authorities in Meier's home state of Missouri. The Times article reported that it is still not clear as to who actually created the fictional account--this is something that cooperation from MySpace could help reveal. Sources who spoke to the Times anonymously said that the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, where MySpace is headquartered, is looking at charging Lori Drew with defrauding MySpace by creating the fake profile.
In November, Meier's hometown of Dardenne Prairie, Mo. passed a law banning online harassment. Offenders can face up to 90 days in jail, a $500 fine, or both.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 
I though that I was paranoid about people doing that (always have it in my mind that people talking just out of my hearing are talking about me) but this is going too far.
I don't think that these people deserve to be in prison for life (that is the one thing that I disagree with) but I do think that they need some sort of punishment, though they are really getting that from the community because no one wants anything to do with the woman in question or her family or anyone else connected with this.
I agree though - it's despicable that some adults have lowered themselves to harassing a little girl in the way that these people have.
I don't believe that they are guilty of anything more than petty mischief, however - all they did was pose as a teenage boy and trick her into thinking she had a friend. They didn't string up the belt in her closet and hang her from it - she did that herself.
How can you defraud someone who gives their service away for free? And just how much do you have to lie in your profile to be guilty of defrauding MySpace?
This is a real stupid waste of tax dollars. Yes, it is too bad the girl killed herself. But obviously her suicide was NOT a foreseeable consequence of the mother's making the fake MySpace page. The girl obviously had severe mental / emotional problems and her parents were not able to help her. Again, that is too bad. But it is not worth of a full-blown federal investigation!!!!!!!
There are too many people that want to see this couple bear the responsibility for this girl's death - the Feds need to keep their jobs, too.
"the communication became 'sexual for a 13 year old.'"
Why is Lori Drew not being charged as a sex predator? Even if Lori herself didn't talk sex, she encouraged it simply by continuing contact with the girl. Sick!
I'd like to point out that MySpace hasn't done anything wrong just need the paper work to provide the data on these animals.
As for an earlier comment about how parents are supposed to keep an eye on their kids. You're right to a point but when adults are banding together and actively attacking a child they are going to be smart enough to circumvent even the most vigilant parent's supervision. These adults should be charged as child molesters and be tagged as sexual predators. Because that's exactly what they are. There is no difference between them and the garden variety pervert who does the same thing to physically attack a child. And who's to say what was next if this little attack didn't work maybe they would have physically attacked this girl. Sorry, this is one of those topics that gets my goat.
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I do not want any governmental body making rules about the internet but any adult who preys on children - on any level - has to be held accountable .
do then lock them in a room with the people who drove their
daughter to kill herself.
THAT would be justice!
The mentally ill people called "perverts" that have the intelligence and sensitivity needed, don't need to stab someone to harm them. These people are everywhere although not all are called perverts, it's a matter of how deep their perverted nature is. The worst are those lying perverted bastards that may try to sack you by all means at work or personal life, keeping a respectful profile in public but just hiding teir true nature. The difficulty lies there, if you are the victim you can but difficultly prove that you're being harassed.
I don't think the accused here are so subtle, they are just ignorant little people and I really pitty them. They need to be punished in the same way a kid needs to be in order to show them limits. How can you, being a parent yourself, harass a 13 year old girl? Saying they have absolutely no responsibility in this makes no sense, and if they have some responsibility, then they are guilty of something.
I've got no respect for them and hope they will live in shame the rest of their lives.
- by EmeraldRaiven May 18, 2009 1:37 PM PDT
- This type of case really gets to me both as an adult and because as a child who was "emotionally unstable". First off how dare adults take it upon themselves to go and act like children, to hurt and cause such damage something that can never be undone. Yes it's clear this girl was in trouble and needed help but who the h*ll would go and do this to a child. I spent most if not all of my younger years crying and upset, wishing I had the courage to end my life because CHILDREN were hurting me. I can't imagine how I would've felt if the adults had turned on me and done this type of thing. I don't want to think about how these people can raise children of there own, these aren't parents they're simply egg & sperm donors. I find these people should be placed in prison for a period of time to be decided by a judge but first and foremost they should never be allowed contact with their own childen. Megan's parents will never get to hold her, kiss her, tell her how much she means to them so why should they be allowed such a privalage!!
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