CNET Archive

Um, Paging All Those Silicon Valley Libertarians...

Ok, I've been cyber-bullied and I think this is scary:

"Legislators are newly arming themselves with laws that will protect kids from being repeatedly harassed via the Internet, text messages, or other electronic devices. In recent weeks, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) proposed    a federal law that would criminalize acts of so-called cyberbullying (PDF). And Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt was scheduled Friday to sign into state law a similar measure, but the event was postponed because of inclement weather in St. Louis.

Both state and federal laws were prompted by the suicide of Missouri 13-year-old Megan Meier, who was the victim of repeated harassment on MySpace.com. An adult neighbor was indicted in the case last month by a grand jury in Los Angeles not on charges of cyberbullying, but on charges of unauthorized access of a computer system with intent to harm another person. (Missouri litigators said they didn't have a law to prosecute the case at the time.)"

OK, my legal knowledge is limited to the reruns of Law & Order that provided great white noise while I was writing my book last year, but couldn't cases like this be covered under manslaughter or some such? Harassment/stalking or battery laws don't stipulate "offline only" right?

If enacted, this starts a new slippery slope of legislation that could endanger free speech (ahem, I hate when people call me the c-word, but doesn't mean they are felons) and crimp the Web's innovation.

Twitter Is Down. Again.

I am not piling on. I'm not. I am frustrated that Twitter is down, again, yes. But I love the company enough I won't defect. And really, is it the end of the world if it's down? It's not as important to your day-to-day life as email right?

If you're a blogger, it might be.

Um, Did Aaron Just Say Maybe CBS Got a Bargain?

Tech Ticker on CNET-CBS: