1 hour ago
It's about time. This needs to be done across the USA! So jerks like Perverted-Justice, AbsoluteZeroUnited and others can be put into prison where they belong.
10/03/2008
It's now a crime to use the Internet to incite the harassment of someone.
The state legislation, which came in response to the case of a 17-year-old Danville resident whose photo and phone number were posted in an online personal ad without her permission, makes such acts illegal.
The bill, AB 919 by Assemblyman Guy Houston (Contact), R-San Ramon, was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (Contact) on Monday. Keith Ochwat, Houston's capitol director, said there were already laws preventing direct harassment through electronic devices. But the new law targets those who may instigate others to victimize someone.
The new law makes inciting such acts a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
"Where we were seeing a hole was where one didn't directly harass someone," Ochwat said. The law goes into effect Jan. 1.
The Danville woman, Morgan Dillingham, now a 19-year-old St. Mary's College student, was 17 when someone placed her cell phone number and photograph on a craigslist.com personal ad seeking men for casual sex. The photos were taken from her MySpace.com page.
- Exactly the same stuff Perverted-Justice and AbsoluteZeroUnited does.
Dillingham said in the first hour after it was posted, she received text messages and 20 voice-mails on her phone. She turned off her phone and doesn't know how many calls she ultimately got. Some of the responses were lewd and disturbing. Danville police told her even though she knew it was posted by a former acquaintance, it was difficult to prosecute such acts.
"I hope this scares people to being responsible in their online usage," Dillingham said of the new law. She said her mom, Kathy Dillingham, traced the posting to the acquaintance, then 18, and that he also bragged about the act to friends. "We couldn't believe it; we were sort of shocked," Kathy Dillingham said after learning there was nothing police could do.
- I doubt it will scare anybody. If they do not know of the law, then they will continue to do it! This needs to be a federal law, then, once passed, broadcasted on all news organizations, so everyone is aware of the new law.
The Dillinghams' story was first publicized by the Times, with Houston later authoring the bill. The measure went through some hurdles after it was introduced in early 2007, including an Assembly committee that watered it down by deciding all such crimes should be a misdemeanor. The bill was also delayed a year after a Senate committee passed a policy against legislation that would add more inmates to the state's overcrowded prison system.
- Well, apparently none of those in legislature have been the victim of online harassment. I personally think it should be a felony!
"It's a long process, but it does work," Morgan Dillingham said. "An individual can come forward and make a difference."
"California is always at the cutting edge of technological advancement," said Houston, a termed-out legislator whose 15th Assembly district seat is up for grabs next month, in a news release. "We need laws to keep up with the technology."
Reach Eric Louie at 925-847-2123 or elouie@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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