Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.
It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.
In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for small favors, I guess.
This ridiculous prohibition, which would likely imperil much of Usenet, is buried in the so-called Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Criminal penalties include stiff fines and two years in prison.
*snip*
Read the rest yerselves. Glad I don't live in the states anymore. It also notes that the owners of systems can be held liable (ie. the forum owner). Great new law there. Gotta love gw.
http://news.com.com/Create+an+e-anno...2491&subj=news
I'm guessing this will cut down on flame wars here significantly, well - for those based in the states at least.