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> There is no federal law against cyber-bullying, so the prosecution in that case used these same computer and wire fraud laws to go after Drew for her role in Megan's suicide.

This is the thing that's strange to me. Seems as though existing laws against harassment would apply. What is so different about this activity online than offline?

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As noted elsewhere, CFAA has suped up mega penalties, so it's the hatchet of choice when the public demands blood.

Perhaps less that it has amped up penalties and more that it has a careless and capricious standard for mapping alleged damages into sentencing categories. It's not necessarily that the CFAA on it's face is unreasonably harsh; it's that it's attached to a stupid scheme from which harshness is an emergent property.

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