Create an E-Annoyance, Go To Jail

By Declan McCullagh
Story last modified Mon Jan 09 04:00:00 PST 2006

Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.

It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a
prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying
e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a
blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for
small favors, I guess.

This ridiculous prohibition, which would likely imperil much of
Usenet, is buried in the so-called Violence Against Women and
Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Criminal penalties include
stiff fines and two years in prison.

"The use of the word 'annoy' is particularly problematic," says Marv
Johnson, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.
"What's annoying to one person may not be annoying to someone else."

Buried deep in the new law is Sec. 113, an innocuously titled bit
called "Preventing Cyberstalking." It rewrites existing telephone
harassment law to prohibit anyone from using the Internet "without
disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy."

http://news.com.com/2010-1028-6022491.html

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