"This decision is disappointing, but is a direct example of why we need laws to address new crimes like cyberbullying," Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) said in a statement issued after the case was dismissed. Sanchez recently proposed a law, the "Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act," that would criminalize online harassment.

Last Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge George Wu in Los Angeles set aside a jury's verdict convicting Drew of three misdemeanors in the controversial case. Wu said he intends to spell out his reasoning in a written decision, which he might issue as early as this week.

Drew, an adult Missouri resident, was prosecuted for allegedly violating a federal computer fraud law by helping to hatch a plan to create a fake profile of a boy, "Josh," who sent messages to 13-year-old Megan Meier. The messages, flirtatious at first, eventually turned hurtful. Megan hanged herself after receiving a final message from "Josh" that the world would be a better place without her.

Drew herself didn't send the messages or create the account, according to the trial testimony.

Law enforcement authorities in Missouri investigated Drew, but concluded that no state laws had been broken. The state later enacted a cyberbullying law that criminalized harassment via computers and other electronic devices.

Despite the Missouri officials' decision not to prosecute, federal authorities in California (where MySpace is headquartered) brought a case against Drew for allegedly violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Their theory was that Drew committed computer fraud because she violated MySpace's terms of service by using a fake name to gain access to Megan's profile.

Some industry observers criticized the prosecution, arguing that the federal computer fraud law is intended to target people who commit identity theft or hack into other people's accounts -- but not those who might violate the fine print of Web sites' terms of service.

Sanchez said Wu's decision to dismiss these charges shows that new legislation is needed. "Tragedies that arise as a result of cyberbullying are multiplying and will continue to increase if we do not make the law clear and protect suffering victims," she said.

Sanchez's bill would make it a crime to send electronic communications "with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person." The bill would also require that the sender exhibit "severe, repeated, and hostile behavior."

But some critics have said that Sanchez's proposed measure is too vague and could end up targeting speech that's protected by the First Amendment.

Meanwhile, some observers who had argued that Drew's conduct did not amount to computer fraud cheered Wu's decision to dismiss the case. "We should have never gotten this far," said Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. "The prosecution was a totally misdirected effort to remediate the Megan Meier tragedy."

Last year, Goldman had joined in a friend-of-the-court brief urging dismissal filed by the digital rights groups Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology and Public Citizen, as well as more than a dozen law professors.

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