| Home > Articles |
| Cyberstalking - The Newest Form Of Terror |
|
| By Mark Grossman |
What is cyberstalking and how do you protect yourself against it?
Cyberstalking is a new, high-tech version of an old terror, “stalking.” It can take many forms including threatening, obscene or hateful e-mail, spreading vicious rumors about you online, and electronic sabotage like e-mail bombs (overwhelming your system with possibly thousands of e-mails). Protecting yourself against it is difficult since typically the behavior is not clearly illegal and the police often don't take the problem seriously. As a practical matter, I think that you might have better luck with the police if you reported aliens landing in your backyard.
It's All About Fear
As a new and not yet well publicized problem, cyberstalking is something that many people, including the police, find easy to belittle. “You should turn off your computer” is no more the answer to a cyberstalking victim than “You shouldn't have worn provocative clothes” is the answer to a rape victim. They're both cruel and insensitive responses.
Imagine waking up one morning, retrieving your e-mail and reading a threatening and anonymous letter. “You're a slut and I hate you.” Or maybe it's “I love you and if I can't have you, then nobody should.”
Then, later that day, a friend calls to tell you that she found a newsgroup posting that includes your name, birthday and social security number. (An Internet newsgroup is like an electronic bulletin board where potentially millions of people can read a posted message.) Finally, just in case you still had an appetite, you find out that someone is impersonating you in e-mail and sending your customers messages that include child pornography.
These are examples of what's meant by cyberstalking. The fact that all of this took place in cyberspace makes it no less terrifying if you're the victim.
Cyberstalking is a crime that's about a frightful invasion into your personal space and a feeling that somebody is watching and hovering over you. If the things that I just described happened to you, I guarantee that you would feel terrified and helpless.
The Law
The question is, are the things that I've described as cyberstalking considered crimes in the United States? Until 1991, stalking wasn't even a crime. Then in 1991, California became the first state to pass an anti-stalking statute. Since then, every state has passed similar statutes. The statutes do vary and each state will provide its own answers.
“Stalking” can be loosely defined as one person's obsessive behavior targeted toward another person. Words and phrases often used in anti-stalking statutes include “wilfully, maliciously and repeatedly,” “follows,” “harasses,” “credible threat,” “alarms,” “torments,” “substantial emotional distress,” and “reasonable fear.”
The problem with the statutes that now exist is that they developed without considering computers as a way to deliver the threat. Fortunately, some have broad enough language that cyberstalking may fall within their purview.
For example, Florida's anti-stalking law makes it illegal to harass another person. In this context, “harass” means to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress in such person and serves no legitimate purpose. This language should be broad enough to snare a cyberstalker. I think that a cyberstalker can certainly cause “substantial emotional distress.”
Unfortunately, what I think, and what a prosecutor concerned about conviction rates may think, may not be the same. The reality is that the legislature likely didn't consider the possibility that e-mail and other cyberspace activities could be a form of stalking. I may think that it's a fair interpretation, but the best course for Florida and other states is to amend the laws to clarify that “stalking” includes “cyberstalking.”
The rub here is insensitivity and a lack of understanding by the authorities. Stalking is generally a hard-to-prove crime. It often lacks physical evidence and is a crime only because of the “emotional distress” of the victim. Now, throw the Internet or a computer into the mix and the crime starts becoming incomprehensible to those who are not familiar with the technology. Again, clarifying the statute to specifically include online behavior would help.
Cyberstalking Often Escalates
The simple and sad fact is that cyberstalking often escalates to what some authorities in this area call “in real life” stalking. Renee Goodale, President of Survivors of Stalking (http://www.soshelp.org/), an anti-stalking resource center, goes so far as to say that virtually every case of cyberstalking escalates beyond just cyberstalking.
Cyberstalking is not something to snicker about. It's real and it's terrifying to victims.
Preventing the Problem
You can and should take several steps to prevent yourself from becoming the victim of a cyberstalker.
E-mail address. Start by creating a gender-neutral e-mail address for yourself. Jdoe@CompuServe.com is a less likely victim than JaneDoe@CompuServe.com. SexyGal@Prodigy.com is also an example of an e-mail address that's best avoided. The simple reality is that females are the usual targets of both stalkers and cyberstalkers.
Online profile. Edit your online profile to remove all personal and gender identifying information. (An online profile is information provided by you that others can access from an online directory.) Personal information simply doesn't belong in a directory that nuts can access. That's not the type of attention you need.
Signature. You should review your e-mail signature. Your e-mail signature is something that you set up in your e-mail software which contains information about you. It's added to every e-mail that you send. You may have long since forgotten about it since it's not routinely displayed to you, the sender. If you're not sure what your e-mail signature says, then send yourself an e-mail. There you can see what others see about you. You should keep your e-mail signature bland, businesslike and gender neutral.
Headers. While you're looking at that e-mail that you sent yourself, look at all the headers. Headers are the often meaningless junk at the top or bottom of the e-mails that you receive. Some software hides some or all of the headers and you will have to find the command to display all headers. For example, in Eudora Pro, one of the more popular e-mail packages around, you press the “blah blah” button to see all of the headers. (Really, that's the name of the button.)
Your headers may contain information that you don't realize that you're sending with your e-mails. For example, some software will send a line called “x-header” which reveals your account name with your Internet Service Provider (the company that gives you Internet Access) even if you have set up some other name for e-mail purposes. If your account name is inappropriate, you might want to change it.
Newsgroups. Posting messages to a newsgroup, especially controversial messages, is a great way to attract the attention of someone with some of his bulbs out. If you enjoy newsgroups, and want to participate in these discussions, go for it, but consider using an anonymous remailer.
Anonymous remailers are e-mail and newsgroup intermediaries. You send your e-mail or newsgroup posting to the anonymous remailer who then strips it of all identifying information. Then, they send your now untraceable message onto its final destination. You can learn more about anonymous remailers at http://www.well.com/user/abacard/remail.html.
If You're a Victim
If you find yourself being victimized online, the classic advice is to ignore the stalker. Even responding to their e-mail to say, “Leave me alone,” just encourages them. Remember, those of us who are playing with a full deck don't send anonymous and threatening cyber threats. Your best bet is to hope that your cyberstalker will get bored by your lack of response.
It's important that you save everything that the cyberstalker sends you. If you have to go to the authorities, you want to have some material to show them. Resist that temptation to hit the delete button.
Remember, you're likely to be the first cyberstalking case that your particular police person has ever seen. You're likely to be greeted with skepticism and the same blank look that you might get reporting that ET is in your house. So, at least, come in with some printouts demonstrating the problem.
Finally, you might want to seek the counsel of a support group like Survivors of Stalking or a private attorney with Internet law expertise. They may be able to counsel, support and guide you through a possibly horrific time.
 |
|
 |
|
|
Disclaimer: The advice given in the TechLaw column should not be
considered legal advice. This newsletter only provides general educational
information. You must never rely upon the advice given here. Your
individual situation may not fit the generalizations discussed. Only your
attorney can evaluate your individual situation and give you advice.
Except as provided below, you may feel free to forward, distribute and
copy the TechLaw column if you distribute and copy it without any changes
and you include all headers and other identifying information. You may not
copy it to a website.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Upcoming Events |
|
October 4, 2010
San Francisco, CA
The Art and Science of Negotiating Cloud Computing, SasS and Technology Deals
Sponsored by Ingram Micro
www.ingrammicro.com
|
October 13-14, 2010
New York, NY
Global Sourcing Forum
More information on Mark's topics to follow.
If you would like to attend please contact Tate Stickles at Tstickles@eComputerLaw.com
|
November 10, 2010
New York, NY
What You Need to Know to Successfully Negotiate A Telecom Deal With A Major Carrier
Co-sponsored by Tangoe, Inc.
www.tangoe.com
|
January 19, 2011
New York, NY
Negotiating Cloud Computing and Other Tech Deals
Joint seminar with Joel Greenwald, Greenwald Doherty, LLP
If you would like to attend please contact Tate Stickles at Tstickles@eComputerLaw.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
