In the tragic case of a 13-year old MySpace user who committed suicide from online bullying, the AP reports in this article that Federal Prosecutors have indicted the accused “bully” on one count of conspiracy and three counts of “accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information.”

That latter charge is based on the fact that the bully, a 49-year old woman, was posing on MySpace as a 16-year old boy. Federal Prosecutors are treating violations in MySpace’s Terms of Service (you know, that long legalese that you skip past and just click ‘I Accept’ when you register?) as a criminal act.

I have no problems with going after the perpetrator in the bullying case. It’s truly awful what happened, and a very a sad story.

However, the prosecutors are setting a dangerous prescient. Ever used a fake name when registering on a site?

You’re a criminal. Ever supplied a false email address to get a whitepaper? You’re a criminal.

What about you? Ever use fake information on the ‘net? When is it acceptable or unacceptable?

Me? I always use a fake birthday and address when registering for sites that require it. So arrest me already…

Filed under: Anonymity, Identification, Legal, Privacy