Posted on 11/16/2011 2:57:32 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Using a pseudonym on Facebook or fibbing about your age on a dating site could be illegal if the U.S. Department of Justice has its way.
The DOJ is going to Congress today to argue that Web sites' terms of service policies should be enforceable by law, according to CNet. For that purpose, the department seeks an expansion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a 25-year-old law that mainly deals with hacking, password trafficking, and threatening to damage a computer.
By outlawing terms of service violations, the department would have an easier time prosecuting cyberbullies such as Lori Drew, a 49-year-old woman who involved in a case where a 13-year-old girl committed suicide after interacting with a fake MySpace profile that Drew was involved with. Prosecutors got a conviction against Drew in 2008 for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, but the case was thrown out by a U.S. District Court judge.
"It basically leaves it up to a website owner to determine what is a crime," U.S. District Judge George Wu said of his verdict in 2009. "And therefore it criminalizes what would be a breach of contract."
That's exactly what the Department of Justice is trying to do now, through Congress
Is the Solution Too Broad?
The department's heart is in the right place, of course, but as groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation pointed out in an August 2011 letter to the Judiciary Committee, outlawing terms of service violations is an overly broad way to solve the problem. In addition to snaring cyberbullies, it would also criminalize harmless fibs such as using a fake name on Facebook to protect privacy. It would also force people to digest needlessly long terms of service policies for online services,
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
Great! I guess that gun deal to Mexico is over so that they can concentrate on real crime in the US.
How about a law making it illegal for a DoJ official to lie when testifying before Congress? Oh, wait, that’s what PERJURY is. /s
If you don't like something on the internet, don't use it. Keep the government out!
Most of the DOJ need to be removed, Holder charged.
I'll go first, my name is Bob Dole.
Hasn’t the Supreme Court already ruled in some case that lying, despicable as it might be, is still part of the “freedom of speech” thingy?
Yes, it's way too hard to use to political advantage.
I'm Spartacus.
Careful Department of InJustice you may not like what you get.
LEOs won’t be able to lie about who they are trying to catch be they a pedophile, a thief, a terrorist, .......
Getting worried?
No you’re to Holder DumbycRAT to worry!
“They should be forced to repeal two laws in order to enact one.”
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I agree in principle but they should have to repeal 72 to enact one new one, kinda like the number of virgins a mooselimb mortar gets.
That is so 18th century.
That’s odd my name is Dob Bole.
Now you’ve done it.
I am Spartacus!
My wife, Morgan Fairchild, is not going to like this.
Oooh! If that's a lie, you're in BIG trouble!
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
I'M Bob Dole!
I thought SeekAndFind was your real name ;-).
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