Cyberbullying: A Destructive Computer Activity

The latest “trend” in destructive computer activity does not appear to be hacking or phishing (although statistics indicate that these behaviors are on the rise); but rather, the often overlooked (although occasionally sensationalized) issue of cyber-bullying.

In the summer of 2008, a 49 year old mother in Los Angeles was indicted on charges of conspiracy and unauthorized access to a computer for assisting her daughter manufacture a phony profile of a 16 year old boy on the popular social networking site MySpace. The purpose of the profile was to harass and humiliate one of the daughter’s former classmates by engaging in a flirtatious online relationship with the classmate, and then psychologically abusing the 14 year old classmate by rejecting her. Unfortunately, the classmate took the rejection much harder than anybody anticipated and ended up hanging herself in her bedroom closet. In November of 2008, the mother was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of illegally accessing computers by violating the MySpace terms of service. More recently, Australia has experienced what is being termed an “epidemic” of cyber-bullying as 10 teenagers have killed themselves after being bullied by people online, primarily at social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. The issue has become so prevalent that the school board in Bozeman, Montana is looking into adding cyber-bulling to its list of anti-bullying policy.

VIRGINIA COMPUTER CRIMES ACT

Virginia has enacted a Computer Crimes Act which contains specific laws that that prohibit causing physical injury to another through the use of a computer or computer network. See, e.g., Va. Code § 18.2-152.7. In addition, Virginia has statutes that create a civil action for violations of the Computer Crimes Act. See, e.g., Va. Code § 18.2-152.12. Moreover, the settlement of the civil cases related to the Virginia Tech massacre indicates that schools may have an obligation to ensure the safety of their students, at least when the students are on school property. It seems that the short lesson from all of these tragic stories is that the legal system does have a role to play in addressing the growing problem of cyber-bullying.

There are potential civil and criminal remedies available for the victims of a “cyber-bully”, which means that there are serious consequences for engaging in “cyber-bullying”. The internet is no longer anonymous and, as seen in the MySpace case, violations of terms of service agreements can result in criminal liability. These types of situations are rife with cutting-edge legal theories; so if you want to ensure that your rights are protected, you need a law firm that has extensive experience handling criminal charges and personal injury claims. The law firm needs to be on the cutting-edge of the intersection of law and technology.

LEGAL ASSISTANCE

The attorneys at Gross & Romanick, P.C. are experienced in the criminal defense of cybercrimes such as hacking, cracking, phreaking, phishing, pornography and spamming. The firm’s attorneys understand the law and also understand the technology. The firm also can assert the victim’s rights in a civil suit for damages. Cyber-bullying has real victims that feel the effects outside of cyberspace and it is imperative that victims seeking to recover damages have a lawyer that understands the intersection of law and technology. Call us today at (703) 273-1400 or visit our website at www.gross.com.

© 2009, Gross & Romanick, P.C.

Recent Computer Crime Legislation

On September 26, 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007 (“ITERA”) into law*. The ITERA targets identity theft, phishing and spam. The Act also eliminates the need to experience economic damages before the federal government can prosecute individuals for hacking and other cybercrimes.

A December survey, conducted by the Ponemon Institute discovered that 92% of responding organizations had fallen victim to some form of cybercrime. In 2007, the Federal Trade Commission reported 221,226 Internet-related fraud complaints. As a result of the new legislation, the Department of Justice is devoting significant resources to the prosecution of computer crime. A February 2009 Article in the ABA Journal quotes John Lynch, a deputy chief in the computer crime and intellectual property division of the DOJ as saying: “The Department of Justice can call on more than 200 assistant U.S. attorneys trained to work on computer crime.”

With the DOJ expanding its prosecution of computer crime, companies and individuals who are victims of computer crime may be able to get more assistance from the DOJ than in the past. It is anticipated that the DOJ will more actively pursue all manner of computer crimes than in years past. If you are the victim of a computer crime or are charged with a technology related crime, it is now more important than ever that you retain a law firm that understands computers, the issues surrounding new technology and this rapidly changing area of law.

Within the past month, Senator Cornyn and Representative Smith have proposed new legislation that would require Internet Service Providers to store information about every user and keep the data for a period of at least two years. The language of the proposed statute is exceedingly broad and, according to the February 20, 2009 issue of PC World Magazine would apply even to owners of home wireless routers. In addition, the proposed Internet Safety Act would impose stiffer penalties for activities related to child pornography.

Computer crimes against companies are often perpetrated by disgruntled former employees or youthful hackers. These hackers often gain access through unprotected internet ports discovered during a port scan, packet sniffing software or the installation of Trojan horse programs. In other cases, malware may be installed on company systems to intentionally cause damage or to access credit information or secure data.

From being one of the first law firms to have a website to now utilizing the latest technologies, the attorneys and staff of Gross & Romanick, P.C work hard to ensure that they continue to use and understand the newest issues surrounding technology. In fact, one of our attorneys teaches courses in Computer Ethics at George Mason University. Handling a case that involves computers requires retaining a law firm that understands computers and the applicable laws. Gross & Romanick, P.C. has remained at the forefront of the intersection of law and technology since its founding in 1980.



*As an aside, the ITERA was actually not passed by Congress as separate and distinct legislation. The relevant provisions of the ITERA were grafted onto the Former Vice President Protection Act of 2008 after the ITERA twice failed to pass in the House of Representatives. The Former Vice President Protection Act of 2008 was designed to provide former Vice Presidents and their families with Secret Service protection for 6 months after they leave office.



© 2009, Gross & Romanick, P.C.