Now Legal to Lie On-line in Rhode Island

[Hum]

If you?ve ever lied to a potential Internet date about your weight, texted your spouse that you were someplace you weren?t or emailed mom to say how much you love that ugly new sweater, you were breaking the law if you did it in Rhode Island.

But state lawmakers have now decided that white lies online should no longer be a crime. The General Assembly voted this month to repeal an obscure 1989 law that made fibbing on the Internet a misdemeanor punishable by fines of up to $500 and as much as a year in prison. Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed the measure.

?This law made virtually the entire population of Rhode Island a criminal,?? said Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union. ?When this bill was enacted nobody had any idea what its ramifications were. Telling fibs may be wrong, but it shouldn?t be criminal activity.??

The law ? which legal experts say was unusually broad compared to similar laws across the country ? was written to stop fraud, con artists and scammers, but it also outlawed the ?transmission of false data?? regardless of whether liars stood to profit from their deception or not.

Only a handful of people were ever prosecuted for lying online, but legislators said it made no sense to keep a law on the books that is violated so often by so many people. Rep. Chris Blazejewski, who proposed eliminating the law, said it was likely unconstitutional.

Lies may make you a scoundrel, cost you a relationship or get you fired, but they shouldn?t make you a criminal unless you?re trying to commit fraud or some other offense, he said.

?There are a lot of things we don?t condone in our society that aren?t crimes,?? Blazejewski said. ?We take freedom of speech very seriously in this country and we should be concerned about the real and serious possibility of further erosion to our First Amendment civil liberties.??

The repeal of the Rhode Island law was prompted in part by a 2010 case in which a former prison guard was arrested for setting up a fake Facebook page in the name of his boss, the state?s corrections director. The charges were later dropped, though the guard lost his job.

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[.Neo]

texted your spouse that you were someplace you weren?t or emailed mom to say how much you love that ugly new sweater, you were breaking the law if you did it in Rhode Island.

That's insane.

[Hum]

Oh yes, I'm slim -- got an 8-pack .... and my organ is HUGE -- you know it's true, I'm from Rhode Island.

[.Neo]

Apparently Rhode Island never heard of a contraption called the "webcam".

[Glassed Silver]

"When this bill was enacted nobody had any idea what its ramifications were."

Says a lot about the dear politicians...

IMHO it's crystal clear what the consequences are.

Glassed Silver:mac

[Arachno 1D]

it made no sense to keep a law on the books that is violated so often by so many people. Rep. Chris Blazejewski

I think he should choose his words more carefully in future or he may get quoted in less salubrious cases.

[Ryoken]

Apparently Rhode Island never heard of a contraption called the "webcam".

Well it was passed in 1989, so no one had ever heard of a Webcam :p

[ILikeTobacco]

I think he should choose his words more carefully in future or he may get quoted in less salubrious cases.

Sounds like a good argument for legalizing murder, drugs, speeding, etc....

[Hum]

Well it was passed in 1989, so no one had ever heard of a Webcam :p

Yeah, most everyone was on 56K dial-up, at best. :p In fact, I think it was too early for that even.