I mentioned last week that the suicide was not going to be admissable evidence in the Lori Drew “violation of ToS is a federal hacking crime” trial. The judge changed his mind. Reason Magazine reports this under the headline “Lori Drew is Doomed.”
And if so, being suspended or banned from your MMO of choice can be treated as a federal criminal offense. 3 day ban with 200 hours community service? Did you know that the Google ToS says that you should print or save a copy of the ToS before searching? There might be an amnesty period.
I am off this story until there is something more like a verdict to report.
: Zubon
This was an awful act by some pretty awful people who do deserve to be punished. Was there “unauthorized access of computers to obtain information”? That is tricky and I think that is what you are saying, that law should not be used this way.
The thing that I agree with most from Reason’s comments is ‘if you start creating exceptions in order to nail douchebags, it actually makes things worse all around.’
There are also a few things people that require retribution are forgetting: (1) this lady will wear this bag of publicity the rest of her life, which IMO is worse than going to jail… and god knows about her family life now, and (2) a civil lawsuit can bring justice when criminal suits cannot (see OJ Simpson for one).
I have to agree with the majority of comments on Reason in that the judge is just setting the volleyball for an easy reverse appeal spike back in his face.