Important article in the New York Times yesterday in which Brian Stelter wondered if, in the wake of the Lori Drew verdict this week, “Is lying about one’s identity on the Internet now a crime?” It’s still unclear if the case will have such profound ramifications, but it has many quite worried. Stelter quotes occasional TLF contributor Andrew Grossman, who is Senior Legal Policy Analyst at the Heritage Foundation. Andrew penned an outstanding paper on the case for Heritage in mid-September: “The MySpace Suicide: A Case Study in Overcriminalization.” He summarized the paper and the important issues at stake in the case in this post for the TLF: “Go to Jail for Online Anonymity: The End of Internet Freedom?” Make sure you read them. I wholeheartedly agree with the concerns Andrew outlines in those essays.
You’ll also want to check out Orin Kerr’s analysis of the case over at the Volohk Consipiracy as well as his tounge-and-cheek piece today about changing the blog’s Terms of Service in light of the decision. I’ve been more focused recently on the threat posed to online anonymity by mandatory online age verification, but this case could have equally important ramifications.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.