Missouri lawmakers have finalised a bill to deal with cyber-harassment, in part due to the publicity given to the Megan Meiers case.

The AP reported that the final approval was given on Friday to a bill that will update state laws against harassment. It will now cover harassment using means such as computers, mobile phones and other electronic  devices.

Gov. Matt Blunt said “These protections ensure that our laws now have the protections and penalties needed to safeguard Missourians from Internet harassment.”

Meiers commited sucide after repeat harassment on the Internet, mostly through MySpace. Her main harasser, Lori Drew, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of fraudulently accessing MySpace servers.

Officials of Meiers’ and Drew’s state, Missouri, had earlier refused to press any charges against Drew, saying that no state laws were broken. MySpace’s servers are located in Los Angeles leading to Drew’s indictment in LA.

Drew is accused of creating a fake MySpace identity under the name “Josh Evans”, masquerading as a 16 year old boy. So-called Josh Evans then made friends with Meiers before changing tack and sending her insulting comments on MySpace.

After receiving the message ending  “The world would be a better place without you,” Megan hanged herself in her bedroom closet.

Lori Drew could be subjected to the maximum possible state penalty of 20 years in prison.

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Entry was posted on Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 1:30 pm under Legal.

Read more entries by Erna Mahyuni.
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