quote:Anyway, this is maybe the saddest story I've seen in a long time, and I think it says a lot about the dangers of the internet.
Actually, I don't think this story shows that the internet is dangerous. I think it shows that being mean is dangerous.
Well, I don't think those things are mutually exclusive, I think it can show both, and it does. There ARE predators in the internet, and thus the internet presents a unique vehicle for them to find victims that is different from most everything else in life.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: I don't understand what that means. If it's a MySpace message, it persists on her account, back on the MySpace servers; it doesn't really live on the hard drive of her local computer.
Its probably a combination of journalist simplification and insufficient detail.
If it works anything like Facebook, you're right. Very little is stored on the local computer. However, the problem is that the other parents deleted "Josh"'s account. If I had to guess, they may have implemented MySpace in a way so that a deleted account cascades the delete to whatever interactions that user had, deleting that final message (and all other messages from him) as well. (Rather than keeping all the messages but have them essentially pointing to nothing, or a dummy placeholder)
MySpace might not have (or may be unwilling to find, for legal or other reasons) backups for that profile, particularly if the parents deleted the profile right after they sent the message.
Michael deleted his Myspace account. I'm fairly certain that when he deleted it, all of the comments and such he left me disappeared as well. They aren't there anymore, at any rate, nor are his comments to any of his other Myspace friends, as far as I can tell. And on Facebook, he seems to have just disappeared completely. So...I'd say it's possible that the dad read the message, and then when the other parents deleted the account, maybe the message disappeared as well.
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Maybe I missed it in the first article in the original post, but after reading that LA Times one I just now realized the Meiers had another daughter, Allison, who is 11. For some reason I thought Megan had been an only child; I don't know why, but knowing she leaves behind a sister whose parents are getting divorced....I feel even worse now
Posts: 349 | Registered: Jul 2006
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The utter contempt the "josh" family had for Megan's family is incredible. To ask them to store something for them, to act friendly knowing that the reason their daughter died was a direct result of the fake account. WOW. Such complete disregard for another person is just too horrible for words.
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It's all so sad. I have to wonder if they parents divorce because on the one hand, Megan didn't have the supervision they had agreed on (and was to young to be on MySpace to begin with) for the mother's part, while the dad deleted the most damning of the messages.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I would think you can't keep loving someone when your life is consummed with hatred for others.
You know, the worst part is that I can even understand how it all got started. You want to make sure your kid isn't being harassed so you check up on her ex-friend. I'm not sure what she thought she could do about it if Megan was spreading lies about the daughter, but I know most people want to know these things. It started out on the far edge of normal (Why not a girl who wanted to be her friend? Why a guy who thought she was pretty?) but managed to spiral into pure evil. All that in one day. It's scary to think how fast it degraded into that.
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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And I'm not talking about the suicide. I think that's awful too, but I think what these people from the internet are doing is worse.
Because they know there are children in that house. They're trying to torment the parents, who I agree, deserve whatever happens to them, but the effects of constant harassment and fear on the children is FAR worse than anything the parents did to Megan.
You don't get to ignore the innocent casulties along the way in your quest for justice. The results of that behavior is dispicable
Posts: 3493 | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:It started out on the far edge of normal (Why not a girl who wanted to be her friend? Why a guy who thought she was pretty?) but managed to spiral into pure evil. All that in one day.
No, it didn't all happen in one day.
For one thing, they romanced this girl, they had multiple people running the fake ID including guest turns by her peers. Their response in the aftermath of her death is really what gnaws people.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Toretha: . . . Because they know there are children in that house. They're trying to torment the parents, who I agree, deserve whatever happens to them, but the effects of constant harassment and fear on the children . . .
You had me here.
quote:Originally posted by Toretha: . . . I think that's awful too, but I think what these people from the internet are doing is worse.
. . . but the effects of constant harassment and fear on the children is FAR worse than anything the parents did to Megan.
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From my understanding of the timeline, the Josh thing was a little weird but basically benign for about a month or so. Then when the girls had the fight she started getting all the nasty emails. Later that day, she killed herself.
Unless your argument is that if they hadn't been flirting with her for the month leading up, then she wouldn't have been so devestated that day. I concede that point.
It still crossed the line from bizarre to dangerous really fast.
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Yahoo has a new story up. Lori Drew, the mother that pretended to be a boy interested in Megan, has been indicted.
Megan's mother credits internet outrage for helping keep pressure on the case.
quote: "I'm thrilled that this woman is going to face charges that she has needed to face since the day we found out what was going on, and since the day she decided to be a part of this entire ridiculous stunt," she said.
The jury reached unanimous verdicts on 3 counts and struggled over a fourth earlier this week.
There's still a defense motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that Drew did not ever see the contract at issue in the case pending before the judge.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote:U.S. District Judge George Wu has not yet ruled on a defense motion that, if granted, would overturn even the misdemeanors for lack of evidence, and result in a judgment of acquittal. It's also unclear whether the government will seek a new trial on the felony conspiracy charge.
quote: The case hinged on the government's novel argument that violating MySpace's terms of service for the purpose of harming another was the legal equivalent of computer hacking, and Drew faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each charge.
If that's true, then I'm glad the jury cleared her of the felony charge. That's not a legal precedent I'd be happy with.
I also hope this isn't what got them out of it:
quote: But testimony in the case offered by prosecution witness Ashley Grills under a grant of immunity showed that nobody involved in the hoax actually read the terms of service.
Lying to MySpace shouldn't let you get away with online bullying. If you have to click a button saying you read the terms, then you should be accountable to them.
I hope MySpace bans the woman from having an account with them again.
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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