Cyberstalking Laws Essay

Stalking is the repeated, intentional, harassing or threatening behavior directed at a specific person which in turn causes fear in that specific person. Cyberstalking is striking the same fear and emotional distress as stalking but done through an electronic device. Both stalking and cyberstalking is most often committed by someone the victim is familiar with. Women are more likely to be stalked then men and online harassment or cyberstalking causes fear which leads the victim to engage in self-protective measures. Some cyberstalked victims have taken time off work, quit their jobs, and dropped out of school or avoided friends and family (Meredith, 2013). Many states have enacted cyberstalking laws. While other states simply use existing

However, due to the make of the Internet and cyberspace applying old world laws to this new environment is somewhat troubling. In the states that have enacted the cyberstalking laws, it has been listed as one of the most dangerous of cybercrimes. Penalties, however, do vary according to jurisdiction and the circumstances of in the incident. Cyberstalking crime can be a misdemeanor or a felony. On July 23, 2011, in Georgia’s Code Section 16-9-92; the state modified its stalking law and terms to include contact via electronic devices and means but listing as actually or creating its own code for cyberstalking (WHO@, 2011). First offense is considered a misdemeanor, second conviction the defendant will be charged with a felony. It is my opinion that cyberstalking laws are not effective. To proper prosecute a criminal it's necessary to discover where and who the cybercriminal is before an arrest can be made. This is one of the problems with fighting online crimes because there are too many ways to hide the criminal's identity. There are numerous services that will hide a user's IP address, making it difficult to track down the criminal (Shinder, 2011). Then what jurisdiction is going to prosecute, was the criminal in the U.S. or outside the U.S., many avenues come into