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"If you hadn't heard the indictment read to you, you'd think this was a homicide case.... This, ladies and gentlemen, is a computer case..."

Closing arguments in the bizarre prosecution of Lori Drew:

The defense attorney insisted the only question is whether Drew violated the terms-of-service agreement of the MySpace social networking site. He said that Drew... never read the seven-page agreement.

"Nobody reads these things, nobody... How can you violate something when you haven't even read it? End of case. The case is over."

In the prosecutor's view: "The rules are fairly simple. You don't lie. You don't pretend to be someone else. You don't use the site to harass others."

Okay, fine, as a general rule, but should you go to prison for 20 years for lying and harassing and pretending to be a fictional person on line? Are we prepared to treat practical jokes like that across the board? Obviously not.

Full post as published by Althouse on November 24, 2008 (boomark / email).