MySpace suicide bully acquitted

The decision by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu, which will not become final until he files a written ruling, was a blow to prosecutors who had hoped to send the message that cyber-bullying is a crime. Wu had repeatedly delayed sentencing to consider a defense motion to dismiss the entire case.

In November, a federal jury here convicted Lori Drew, 50, of three misdemeanor charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a federal law intended to combat computer crimes. Legal experts followed the case closely, saying it was the first time the statute had been used to prosecute a patron of a social networking site for abuses of the site.

But on Thursday, Judge Wu said that if she is to be found guilty of illegally accessing computers, anyone who has ever violated the social networking site's terms of service would be guilty of a misdemeanor. That would be unconstitutional, he said.

"You could prosecute pretty much anyone who violated terms of service," he said.

U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien, whose office prosecuted the woman, said after the decision was announced that the law needed to be strengthened.

"We call it cyber-bullying and we don't have a law to address it," he said at a news conference.

Prosecutors had sought a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $300,000 fine. In May, probation officials recommended that Drew be placed on one year of probation and fined $5,000.

Prosecutors said Drew, her 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, and an 18-year old employee used the fake profile to lure Megan Meier into an online relationship, initially to find out whether Megan had been spreading rumors about Sarah.

Megan, 13, hanged herself with a belt in October 2006 after getting a message, purportedly from the boy, telling her that "the world would be a better place without you."