Cyberbullying - what do laws have to do with it?

No one argues that it was a tragedy that Megan Meier committed suicide. The argument is about who is responsible and what can be done to prevent or discourage similar instances in the future; specifically: what kind of laws, if any, should we make to protect individuals from cyberbullying and its consequences.

In a CNN report by Veronica De La Cruz, De La Cruz points out that currently there are not laws (at the federal level or in most states) that protect individuals from "cyber-stalking." The Missouri statute relevant to this case requires that online communications were intended to "frighten, disturb or harass" the individual. The Drews maintain that the purpose of "Josh's" myspace account was to see if Megan was saying negative things about their daughter, not to harass Megan. So the question is: will a stronger, more specific law improve protection for individuals who experience cyberbullying? Who would these new laws be designed to protect - and why? For example, if we believe the Drews statement abou the purpose of the site, it seems that the Drews, but not Megan, have been the subject of cyberbullying.

And then there are the problems of identity. Who is responsible and how can you tell whether the "name" of the responsible person corresponds to the "real" person? With respect to the Megan Meier case, how can we prove who posted comments that could be interpreted as harassment? Or - with respect to the Megan Had It Coming blog (filled with statements that could damage Drews' case) - it seems that it should be a simple matter to identify the blog's owner - but as it turns out - it is far from simple.

So our questions are: how should issues surrounding cyberbullying be resolved? And can an understanding of the nature of cyberspace help us in framing of laws designed to resolve these issues?