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New Law in California Makes Online Impersonation Illegal

 

Illegal to Impersonate Others Online

On Saturday, January 1, 2011, a law, which makes online or electronic impersonation a misdemeanor crime punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail, was passed in California.
We are optimistic that this bill, known as SB-1411, will indeed make online reputation management more effective. In the past, there have been various accounts of people being impersonated, like Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt on Facebook. In this case, a blogger created a fake profile for Eric Schmidt and began to build a network of “friends” with other high profile people–even sharing messages with them. There are many other unfortunate accounts of people being impersonated online to the point of extreme embarrassment. We are glad this law is in place to establish more order in the “typically lawless frontier of the internet.”
Also in response to this new law, we urge educators to keep their school policies “in sync” w/ legislation. Good digital citizens are nurtured by adults who understand the laws and the potential consequences of breaking them, and clearly explain these things to their students. See the article below for more details of the bill.

Reputation Managers Applauds New Law That Makes Online Impersonation Now Illegal in The Golden State Thanks to California SB-1411

Del Mar, CA (PRWEB) January 15, 2011
Reputation Managers is beyond pleased with the groundbreaking victory for business and online protection advocates in the state of California, where SB-1411 became law on Saturday, January 1, 2011. This new law takes bold steps to prevent people from impersonating others on the Internet by making it a misdemeanor to fraudulently state your identity online. SB-1411 will allow for significant ramifications in the world of online reputation management.
The bill, which makes impersonation a misdemeanor crime punishable by a $1000 fine and up to a year in jail to “knowingly and without consent credibly [impersonate] another actual person through or on an Internet Web site or by other electronic means, as specified, for purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding another person,” was introduced nearly one full year ago by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto).
Social media and blogging are both ubiquitous and painfully new, and this bill helps bring order to the typically lawless frontier of the Internet. One of the most difficult aspects of online reputation management (ORM) is the ease with which any individual with access to a computer can, with a single keystroke, destroy the reputations of individuals and businesses alike.
The new law piggybacks on top of old California laws against forgery, and proponents hope that trends begun with SB-1411 will eventually lead to even greater protections for business. Ideally, states ReputationManagers.com’s blog about the passing of California SB-1411, “We are hoping the next phase of the law is to prevent people from anonymously, or under a fake name, posting slanderous content online about a company or representative.”

 

Categories: Legal Issues, Privacy

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