“Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.” Declan McCullagh at CNET sounds the alarm about a provision quietly tucked into the so-called Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Sec. 113 of the bill, entitled “Preventing Cyberstalking,” “rewrites existing telephone harassment law to prohibit anyone from using the Internet ‘without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy.'” The implications for anonymity on the web, in email correspondence, and in other Internet applications could be enormous, McCullagh says. Penalties include stiff fines and jail terms of up to two years (Jan. 9).

More: Orin Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy says McCullagh is wrong to be so alarmed and that the actual effect of the law would be much narrower (see Ted’s post above). A key question raised in the Volokh comments is whether the bill will apply only to VOIP (internet-based telephone service) or have a broader reach than that. Other discussions worth reading: Concurring Opinions, Boing Boing.

Filed under: crime and punishment, online speech