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U.S. Department of Justice Seeks Law Against Lying Online (No more Facebook Pseudonyms?)
PC World ^ | 11/16/2011 | By Jared Newman

Posted on 11/16/2011 2:57:32 PM PST by SeekAndFind

Using a pseudonym on Facebook or fibbing about your age on a dating site could be illegal if the U.S. Department of Justice has its way.

The DOJ is going to Congress today to argue that Web sites' terms of service policies should be enforceable by law, according to CNet. For that purpose, the department seeks an expansion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a 25-year-old law that mainly deals with hacking, password trafficking, and threatening to damage a computer.

By outlawing terms of service violations, the department would have an easier time prosecuting cyberbullies such as Lori Drew, a 49-year-old woman who involved in a case where a 13-year-old girl committed suicide after interacting with a fake MySpace profile that Drew was involved with. Prosecutors got a conviction against Drew in 2008 for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, but the case was thrown out by a U.S. District Court judge.

"It basically leaves it up to a website owner to determine what is a crime," U.S. District Judge George Wu said of his verdict in 2009. "And therefore it criminalizes what would be a breach of contract."

That's exactly what the Department of Justice is trying to do now, through Congress

Is the Solution Too Broad?

The department's heart is in the right place, of course, but as groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation pointed out in an August 2011 letter to the Judiciary Committee, outlawing terms of service violations is an overly broad way to solve the problem. In addition to snaring cyberbullies, it would also criminalize harmless fibs such as using a fake name on Facebook to protect privacy. It would also force people to digest needlessly long terms of service policies for online services,

(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: democrats; doj; dojisajoke; donttreadonme; facebook; fudoj; govtabuse; internet; inthemist; jbt; liberalfascism; lping; maybealittleblow; mymuslimfaith; nannystate; nazis; policestate; tyranny; waronliberty
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To: SeekAndFind

Hey DOJ, I know you lurk on here, here’s my message to you... GFYS!


81 posted on 11/16/2011 6:22:54 PM PST by mojitojoe (WH says potus didnÂ’t feel the earthquake. No worries. Another is scheduled for November 2012)
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To: justiceseeker93; devolve; ntnychik

[Any government official who can even propose this is a tyrant!]

Bears repeating - they need to remove Holder NOW.

Lol, can anyone imagine banning lying online, are they going to put a lie detector on each of us? Lol, all those dating sites, some people go to, are gonna go out of business first!


82 posted on 11/16/2011 6:27:02 PM PST by potlatch (*snip*~ Having the right to be angry does not give one the right to be cruel. ~*snip*)
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To: SeekAndFind

How about a law against lying by the President? Or a law against lying by the Attorney General when he’s under oath.


83 posted on 11/16/2011 6:30:22 PM PST by Hoodat (Because they do not change, Therefore they do not fear God. -Psalm 55:19-)
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To: SeekAndFind

“Never let a crisis go to waste.”

Just the usual utterly corrupt United States Department of Justice doing its usual corrupt thing.


84 posted on 11/16/2011 6:31:57 PM PST by FormerACLUmember
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To: Allegra

Damn...

I wish I had thought of Batman....

Way Cool.

How’s work?


85 posted on 11/16/2011 6:35:11 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: SeekAndFind

See the first quote on my FR profile page.


86 posted on 11/16/2011 6:36:02 PM PST by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: SeekAndFind
"using a fake name on Facebook"

There is no such thing as a fake name. My name is whatever I say it is. I realize there is a government name I must use in certain dealings but in the end my name is what I say it is.


87 posted on 11/16/2011 6:38:41 PM PST by I see my hands (The old sod ne'er shall be forgot.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Every fishing message board in existence will be shut down.


88 posted on 11/16/2011 6:47:46 PM PST by rdl6989 (January 20, 2013 The end of an error.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Does this mean Mitt Romney can be prosecuted for claiming to to be conservative on his website?


89 posted on 11/16/2011 6:47:53 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: potlatch

.

‘My Muslim faith....’

‘Wait - I’m really a Christian!’

‘I visited 57 states....’

‘....maybe a little blow....’
(maybe a lotta blow)

‘I was on the Hawaii State HS Championship Basketball Team.....”
(but I sat on the bench)

.


90 posted on 11/16/2011 6:48:30 PM PST by devolve (- - - - - - - - - - - - Nouveau Barack Pansies of Obamaville - - - - - - - - - - - -)
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To: SeekAndFind

Zathras have no problem telling everyone Zathras is Zathras.
Now must get back to working on Great Machine.


91 posted on 11/16/2011 6:52:04 PM PST by Zathras
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To: devolve

You forgot that Obama was in Asia while in Hawaii, lol, the man is dumb!! A Munchkin Candidate for sure.

Yup, the no lying online would kill the internet - except for nice people like me.......snicker.


92 posted on 11/16/2011 6:55:00 PM PST by potlatch (*snip*~ Having the right to be angry does not give one the right to be cruel. ~*snip*)
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To: SeekAndFind
The department's heart is in the right place, of course,

Or, this is what they want everyone to think when they concoct these little schemes. But these folks are evil and do not have good intentions. Anybody care to defend Net Neutrality after reading this?

93 posted on 11/16/2011 6:56:51 PM PST by Major Matt Mason (The Chicago Way isn't the American Way.)
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To: SeekAndFind

WTF???


94 posted on 11/16/2011 7:01:15 PM PST by sickoflibs (Cain :"My parents didn't raise me to beg the government for other peoples money")
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To: SeekAndFind

Is this not the same outfit headed by a liar?

Is this not the same outfit who has proposed a law that allows them to lie?

And yet, this same outfit wants to bust me for lying for using a pseudonym?

I got a 2x4 with ‘Hypocrite’ written on it that I know can be used to bust them upside the head a few times. =.=


95 posted on 11/16/2011 7:03:19 PM PST by cranked
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To: Vendome
How’s work?

I'm on a blissful, self-imposed hiatus right now. Enougn with the 12+ hour days 7 days a week, sandstorms, bombs, spartan living conditions and boring chow-hall food. ;-)

I'll head back to that delightful life in early '12. I'm home for my first full football season in years, dang it!

How's thangs?

96 posted on 11/16/2011 7:06:57 PM PST by Allegra (Hey! Stop looking at my tagline like that.)
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To: djf

I like the idea that anyone with a law degree who lies any where at any time is guilty of perjury.


97 posted on 11/16/2011 7:12:45 PM PST by W. W. SMITH (Obama is an instrument of enslavement)
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To: potlatch
.

Right!

But he was learning to speak Austrian at the time -

Obama is redefining beyond the Pacific Rim as 'Asia'

Seems to me the Japanese once tried that.....

.

98 posted on 11/16/2011 7:16:35 PM PST by devolve (- - - - - - - - - - - - Nouveau Barack Pansies of Obamaville - - - - - - - - - - - -)
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To: Riley

NO, IM Spartacus!


99 posted on 11/16/2011 7:19:25 PM PST by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office)
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To: devolve

Does Obama even know when he misspeaks, do any of his advisors even tell him he misspoke? I doubt the latter, but guess he sees it in any news that might expose it.

Perry has some good ads running on Fox News, I see them often.


100 posted on 11/16/2011 7:24:17 PM PST by potlatch (*snip*~ Having the right to be angry does not give one the right to be cruel. ~*snip*)
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