I've been following the story of Megan Meier, the Missouri teen who killed herself after a particularly nasty hoax was played on her by a classmate and her mother via MySpace.
Originally when it looked the the law charge the folks involved with anything, the particulars of the case didn't fall under any stalking statute, the hacker community turned it's attention against the perpetrators in a display of cyber-vigilantism, publishing unlisted names and phone numbers.
But it seems that the federal government stepped in and is trying to use current "hacking" laws as the basis for their indictment. It's the first time these laws have been applied in this fashion.
While I'm interested in this case from the technological and legal points of view, a greater part of me wants to see the Meier family gets the justice they deserve.
original article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/09/AR2008010903367.html
latest update:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051502443.html
