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Buying Guide: Cyber-Bullying Verdict Won't Chill Online Anonymity
Contents
- Cyber-Bullying Verdict Won't Chill Online Anonymity
- A Look at the Hiders
Be yourself. No, seriously, be yourself, because, according to a number of online pundits, not doing so could land you in jail. This is the logical leap being made by virtually everyone—including The New York Times—now that Missouri mom Lori Drew has been convicted of computer fraud in a cyber-bullying case.
The "fraud" she perpetrated involved creating the fake persona of a teenage boy on MySpace, leading a teenage girl she communicated with to believe that persona, and ultimately engaging in cruel behavior that led to the girl's committing suicide. While acquitted on the felony conspiracy count, Drew was convicted of three misdemeanor computer crimes.
With the case over and a precedent set, people are now looking at Web site "Terms of Service" agreements with fresh eyes. As one pundit noted, virtually all of them forbid you to misrepresent yourself. Ours does. We say, "Creating a Member account under automated means or under false or fraudulent pretenses constitutes unauthorized use of the Service and such accounts will be terminated by ZDH." That's clear enough. You need to be who you say you are. But does anyone really follow those guidelines?
The reality is that many, many people lie about their identities online. They go online as a man when they're really a woman, and vice versa. They lie about their age, their profession, financial status, location—you name it. And it's all been one big game.
Now people are terrified. Well, most people are terrified. I'm not. I don't see this ruling holding up on appeal. Ms. Drew may have committed a crime, but computer fraud it is certainly not. Will this ruling have a chilling effect on online anonymity? Perhaps mildly, but I do think it's worth examining. Is it time for people to change how they behave online?
First, let's categorize our online selves. In my opinion, there are two kinds of users: Sharers and Hiders.
A Look at the Sharers
Sharers are those teenagers and mid-twentysomethings who grew up with computers and the Internet and believe in full disclosure. So, you can Google them and find their bio, a MySpace page, a Facebook page, comments posted all over the Web, YouTube videos, Flickr photos, and more. In each case, there's no subterfuge. Everything is out there for you to peruse—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Want to see a photo of them drunk and in their underwear? Coming right up. Looking for a political rant that clearly puts them somewhere to the left of Abby Hoffman? Not a problem. Every single action is out there for the world to explore.—Next: A Look at the Hiders >