In a case that could have far reaching consequences for cyber speech, a US Judge has ruled that a New Jersey woman can be prosecuted for Facebook identity theft after she set up a fake account in her ex boyfriends name and then posted comments so that people would believe it was him responsible for writing them.
Dana Thornton set up the Facebook page using photo’s and personal information she had and knew about her former boyfriend – a New Jersey narcotics police detective.
Some of the comments heard in court included “I’m a sick piece of scum with a gun” and that he “was high all the time” and that he regularly visited prostitutes.
According to an article in Stuff the case revolves around a New Jersey law that makes it illegal to benefit from or to injure or defraud someone by impersonating them. The article says:
Lawyer Richard Roberts, representing Thornton, attempted to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the law makes no mention of electronic communications. New Jersey’s legislature is reviewing an amendment that would add that provision to the law.
Roberts argued that the mere fact that the law could be amended amounts to a tacit admission that the current one doesn’t cover his client’s alleged actions.
“How do you quantify the harm?” he asked. “There was no money involved. We live in the real world where words are thrown around all the time. How does that rise to the level of what is in this statute?”
State Superior Court Judge David Ironson disagreed and said the law was “clear and unambiguous”.
“The fact that the means of committing the crime are not set forth in the statute doesn’t lead to the conclusion that the defendant didn’t commit the crime,” he said.
This is the first case of Facebook identity theft in the State and amending New Jersey identity theft law would probably mean reviewing others according to social media law expert Megan Erickson.
“If the legislature specifically references online conduct in one statute, should it take an inventory of how all others laws may apply in the context of the internet and amend them as well?” she told Stuff.
While another lawyer who specializes in online law is expecting to see many more cases like the one here although he believes this particular case could prove difficult for the prosecution due to the way the law is written in the State of New Jersey.
“This specific situation sounds like it may be better handled in civil rather than criminal court,” he said. “It’s very tough to say this is a violation of the law.” he said.
Joe Says: Because they tend to be home to the celebrities both California and New York were quick to have laws in place to combat online identity theft but all other states are trailing behind these cyber times.
While no monetary gain is sought in these types of cases it is the ruining of your good name that the perpetrator is after. There are certain companies that will charge a monthly fee to monitor the web for any mention of your name so that you can quickly stamp something out before it gets out of hand.
However, there is no need to pay for this as Google will let you do it for free. Go to Google and and click on ‘news’ and then search for your name in commas. Let’s use “joe bloggs”as an example.
Scroll to the end of the results and you will see a link that says “Create an email alert for joe bloggs.” Simply click on that and then for ‘Type’ select ‘all’ and leave the rest as they are – click on ‘create alert’ when you are done with the settings.
Now, should someone write something about you or someone with your name, Google will email you with direct links to where it is.
Should you find something derogatory about you on a social network site like Facebook it is always best to not respond. Visit the help section and find out how to report abuse and policy violations and do it.
Most social network companies are well aware that because the remarks are on their servers and sites any legal action by you against the person responsible could well get messy for them so will act quickly to remove anything deemed derogatory or offensive.
In this particular case of Facebook identity theft Dana Thornton was in breach of the Facebook terms of service and the victim would certainly have a strong case should they opt for a civil action.
Source: Stuff
