Tech Central: is lying in cyberspace a federal offence?

The mother of a 13-year-old girl described how her daughter hanged herself with a belt after being taunted on her MySpace page by a boy whose identity was later revealed to have been invented by a neighbour.

Tina Meier recounted how "Josh Evans" befriended her 13-year-old daughter, Megan, online during the first day of the case against Lori Drew, who is accused of taking part in the internet hoax that prosecutors say led to Megan's suicide.

In the first cyber-bullying trial in the US, the jury heard that "Josh" sent Megan a message saying that the world would be better off without her. Megan sent a response saying, "You are the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over."

Mrs Meier said that, after a name-calling exchange between Megan, "Josh" and two other girls in October 2006, she told a sobbing Megan, who was being treated for attention deficit disorder and depression, that she was not supposed to be online and should not have got involved in the argument.

"The last words she said to me were: 'You are supposed to be my mom, you are supposed to be on my side'," Mrs Meier said as she tried to hold back tears.

Mrs Meier said she later ran upstairs and found Megan hanging in the closet with a belt around her neck. She died the next day.

Drew, 49, from Missouri, has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorisation. Each count carries a potential sentence of five years in prison. The case is expected to set a legal precedent for dealing with the issue of online harassment.

In his opening statement to jurors, US Attorney Thomas O'Brien said Drew helped create the false identity on MySpace to learn if Megan was spreading malicious rumors on MySpace about Sarah Drew, the defendant's then 13-year-old daughter.

Mr O'Brien said the evidence would show that Drew opened the MySpace account and "fully intended to hurt and prey on Megan's psyche". The jury was told that Drew knew that Megan was "vulnerable, suicidal and boy crazy".

"Her purpose was to tease Megan Meier, to tease her, to humiliate her and to hurt her," Mr O'Brien said. "One of her plans was to print out the conversations and take it to Megan's school and let people make fun of this depressed 13-year-old girl."

Dean Steward, the defence attorney, told jurors that Drew did not violate the Computer Use and Fraud Act — used in the past to address computer hacking — and reminded them she was not facing charges dealing with the suicide. "This is not a homicide case," Mr Steward said.

After jurors were dismissed for the day, Mr Steward unsuccessfully requested a mistrial, saying the emotional testimony was "totally improper in a computer fraud case".

Prosecutors said that Drew conspired with her daughter and Drew's then 18-year-old assistant, Ashley Grills, to invent an attractive male teenager on MySpace to find out what was being said about Sarah. In a final message, Ms Grills, posing as Josh Evans, told Megan: "The world would be a better place without you. Have a shitty rest of your life," Mr O'Brien said.

Mr Steward countered it was Ms Grills who set up the MySpace account and his client was driving home when the message about the world being a better place without Megan was sent. Ms Grills has been granted immunity to testify for the prosecution.

The case is being prosecuted in Los Angeles because MySpace computer servers are based in the area.

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