Cyberstalking laws: Getting tough on cyberstalkers

Cyberstalking law opens debate on what’s annoying

By Richard Willing, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — It didn’t get much publicity, but an anti-stalking bill passed by Congress recently makes it a federal crime to “annoy” someone over the Internet.

And that’s really beginning to bug some people.

“It’s a stupid law that has slipped in under the radar,” says Clinton Fein, a San Francisco-based artist who runs annoy.com, a website that he says offers “unique and irreverent” commentary on politics and culture. “Who says what’s officially annoying? Is that a business we really want our government to be in?”

The law makes it a crime to anonymously “annoy, abuse, threaten or harass” another person over the Internet.

Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington inserted the provision into legislation that reauthorized the federal Violence Against Women Act. It carries a prison sentence of up to two years and an unspecified fine for those convicted of violations. President Bush signed the bill into law Jan. 5. “

 

I excerpted the above from ttp://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2006-02-14-cyberstalki

Laws are getting tougher on anonymous cyberstalking. This must be bad news for eccentric left wingers who hate the free speech rights of Steve Sailer. Ask yourself this: Is it worth two years in jail? You are mad at the things Steve Sailer writes, but is it really worth a prison sentence? You want to post his address online, pictures of his wife online, but soon all of this might get you behind bars. Anger is never a solution to someones free speech. Get over your rage and your obsessive hate. Go outside and get some fresh air.