"Missouri - A bill that prohibits posting certain personal information on the Internet with the intent or threat to cause harm or death to a person is officially law."

"Researchers at Florida State University are developing a computer system designed to help law enforcement agents thwart cyberstalking. Computer science Professor Sudhir Aggarwal and members of the Florida Cybersecurity Institute have built a hardware and software prototype called the Predator and Prey Alert (PAPA) system. The forensic toolkit is designed to provide high-quality evidence for the prosecution of cyberstalking cases."

"A Sampson County woman says that she has been harassed and threatened on America Online, to the point where she fears for her safety and the safety of her four children."

"KOLKATA: A senior official who allegedly sent obscene e-mails from a fictitious ID he created in the name of a woman subordinate has landed himself in jail..."

"Cyber stalkers are lurking in virutal shadows. What we found out in course of our investigation will make you sit up and take notice."

"It frequently starts with a bad break-up. Then the e-mails and instant messages start or personal information shows up in an Internet chat room. Awful names are tossed around. Top 10 lists - everything from the ugliest in school to the fattest to the easiest - get posted online."

"An Emory theology student was ordered by a Texas judge on July 15 to pay $77,000 for allegedly using fake identities to send more than 1,000 pornographic and racist e-mails to Baylor University (Texas) employees."

"A Gladstone man pleaded guilty Thursday to spying on his ex-wife's Internet activity. Prosecutors called it cyber-stalking, saying 28-year-old Jason Russell e-mailed his ex-wife Spyware that automatically downloaded to her computer, which allowed him to secretly monitor her online communications and read her e-mails."

"What: A convicted cyberstalker appeals his prison sentence. When: Decided July 27 by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Outcome: Sentence of 96 months in prison and three years supervised release was left unchanged."

"Early last year, the corporate stalker made his move. He sent more than a dozen menacing e-mail messages to Daniel Videtto, the president of MicroPatent, a patent and trademarking firm, threatening to derail its operations unless he was paid US$17 million. In a pair of missives fired off on Feb. 3, last year, the stalker said that he had thousands of proprietary MicroPatent documents, confidential customer data, computer passwords and e-mail addresses. Using an alias of "Brian Ryan" and signing off as "Wounded Grizzly," he warned that if Videtto ignored his demands, the information would "end up in e-mail boxes worldwide.""

"Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) launched today its 700women.org campaign, an innovative web-based initiative to push for congressional reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) -- legislation that has helped millions of domestic violence and sexual assault victims and is due to expire in September."

"Dr. Ernest Finocchio, head of the Rhode Island Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, has been arrested for allegedly sending harassing e-mails to a woman who was once his veterinary client. Finocchio was arrested last Wednesday by Rhode Island State Police on the charge of cyberstalking, a misdemeanor that effectively means e-mail harassment, according to Capt. Stephen Lynch."

"... Cyberstalkers don't lurk in the shadows or sneak around to tail their victims. Instead, they hang out in Internet chat rooms, threaten and harass their victims through e-mail and instant messages, and post false and malicious information on Internet sites. And, as Gordon knows, a cyberstalker doesn't have to be in close proximity to rain fear on his victim."

"Want to find a long-lost college buddy? Think your husband or wife is cheating on you? Numerous Web sites make being a private investigator as easy as double clicking."

"... Google feeds into our paranoia with a new service called Google Alerts. If your name appears suddenly online, you'll be contacted by e-mail instantly. With new blog search spiders, if a friend is blathering about how drunk you were at the strip club last week on their stupid blog, you'll be notified right away. Now we're not only stalking other people. We're stalking ourselves."

"[PW Editor's Note: the plaintiff issued a press release in a cyberstalking complaint/case directed to the defendant]... Roberto Villasenor, I am writing you this letter on a most urgent basis. Despite your actual knowledge of the injunction for quite a long time, you have continued to publish postings on the Internet under various aliases in which you continue your illegal actions of cyber stalking and defaming Michael Zwebner."

"Blogging, e-diaries and on-line profiles might have made life easier, but they have also made it a lot more easier for someone to access your personal life simply at the click of a mouse. The latest news is the increase in the cases of cyber-stalking in the city."

"A registered sex offender apparently obsessed with the breasts of a St. Louis TV anchorwoman is out on bail and back working the counter at a Belleville gas station after pleading not guilty to two counts of felony cyberstalking. His target: KTVI-TV (Channel 2)'s Randi Naughton."

"Although online harassment and threats can take many forms, cyberstalking shares important characteristics with offline stalking. Many stalkers - online or off - are motivated by a desire to exert control over their victims and engage in similar types of behavior to accomplish this end."

"While many people may be have heard about Internet crimes against children, there is a growing computer crime that the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation calls cyberstalking. The recent arrest of a man who allegedly sent threatening e-mails to some employees at WRAL has brought public attention to the crime, but experts say an individual does not have to be in a high-profile position to become a victim. Cyberstalking is popping up in domestic cases and law enforcement is taking aim."

"A man who used a computer at the Benson public library to send harassing and threatening e-mails to four TV news anchors and a meteorologist has been charged, according to District Attorney Tom Lock. Fern Georges, 33, was charged with cyberstalking and ethnic intimidation, both misdemeanors, on Wednesday."

"A Washington Park man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he sent harassing e-mails to KTVI (Channel 2) morning anchorwoman Randi Naughton and posted more threats to a Web site, authorities said."

"A message posted on the Internet said that a middle school student was physically punished by his teacher. This post was sure to trigger a great deal of controversy, regardless of the truth, and has resulted in driving the teacher down a blind alley. It makes me unhappy to read anonymous posts from students and parents complaining about the school and teachers on the homepages of not only schools but education bureaus, and have defamed the people concerned. What a terrible cyber terror for whoever involved to be choked with anonymous accusations and slander!"

"A convicted sex offender from Washington Park will stand trial for sending e-mails containing rape threats to St. Louis TV news anchor Randi Naughton. A judge found Friday that the state has enough evidence for Rickey E. Lamming, 49, formerly of 1722 N. 51st St. in Washington Park, to be tried on two counts of cyberstalking, a felony."

"The growing public issue of harrassment and defamation by anonymous Internet users - or "cyber terror," as Koreans have begun calling it - is leading some people to call for laws requiring Internet users to use their real names online."

"A CALIFORNIA man has been arrested for making threats against employees of UTStarcom and posting messages on an internet site intended to manipulate the stock price of the communications gear maker. The FBI arrested Jonathan Henry Wiegman, 41, on charges he sent several threats over the internet starting in August 2004 to injure UTStarcom employees."

"An Altamonte Springs woman who was arrested last week on charges of cyberstalking Florida author Randy Wayne White will be arraigned July 19. Debby Wilbanks allegedly sent White hundreds of e-mails over the past two years, some of which included threats."

"An Essex man was placed on probation this week for harassing his former supervisor by signing her up for e-mail subscriptions, flooding her inbox with unwanted messages from dating services and job lines, the state attorney general's office said yesterday. Scott C. Huffines, 41, a former Web designer at Maryland Public Television, admitted signing his supervisor's e-mail address on Internet sites to annoy the woman with the resulting e-mail, according to the attorney general's office."

"A Baltimore man has pleaded guilty to registering his boss on dating and employment Web sites to annoy her, the Maryland Attorney General's Office announced Wednesday. Scott Carol Huffines, 41, was a Web designer for Maryland Public Television. Starting in September 2004, his boss started receiving a lot of unwanted e-mail from dating services and job lines, Washington, D.C., television station WRC reported."

"ALTAMONTE SPRINGS - A woman has been arrested for allegedly sending hundreds of harassing and hostile e-mails to best-selling mystery writer Randy Wayne White, authorities said. "There was not a book signing I had that I didn't think she was there," White said at his Pineland home Friday. "I was convinced she was in Florida.""

"Robert Gortarez is no private eye. But with an $80 piece of software intended to track what his son was doing on the Internet, the 36-year-old real estate investor uncovered some information about what his wife -- now his ex-wife -- was doing online as well. Gortarez isn't the only one. Husbands and wives, moms and dads, even neighbors and friends increasingly are succumbing to the temptation to snoop, thanks to a growing array of inexpensive, easily accessible high-tech sleuthing tools once available only to professional investigators."

"A 45-year-old man from Cyprus was arrested Monday on sexual harassment charges after allegedly hacking into a webcam in order to take illicit pictures of a young woman in her bedroom, the Cyprus Mail reports."

"A Juneau nurse, represented by the Alaska Civil Liberties Union, filed a class action lawsuit Monday against the state of Alaska to keep her personal address out of the public files, which she says can endanger her."

"Everything that's great and everything that's frightening about the Internet can be summed up in a single word. Zaba. That's Zaba as in ZabaSearch.com, a so-called people search site that allows you to quickly track down the whereabouts of just about anyone, free of charge."

"... New Brunswick police received a call from a female claiming she was handcuffed, held hostage and being raped in an apartment. Police surrounded the property for six hours, and the situation made national news. A Texas woman has admitted making the call as part of a potentially deadly prank, known as bombing, which aims to bring tactical or SWAT teams to victims' homes."

"A Senate panel has voted unanimously for a bill that would expand protections for Nevadans terrorized by stalkers by letting them participate in a state program that provides fictitious addresses to other crime victims."

"A North Texas high school student was indicted on felony stalking charges over a rap song he recorded that threatened another student, officials said Wednesday. Brock Anthony Coleman, a 17-year-old honor student in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, wrote the song and distributed it to friends at his high school late last year, the Dallas County Sheriff's Department said."

"A former employee of a Schaumburg electronics store received a four-year prison sentence Thursday for harassing a customer whose e-mail address and cell phone number he stole off a computer she had in for repair."

"Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sheryl Crow and Mel Gibson recently faced theirs in court. Anna Kournikova's took a nude swim to find her. Andrea Evans feared hers for a decade. They're celebrity stalkers, perpetrators of an emotional crime that's often - but not always - the result of mental illness."

"The man accused of stalking actor Mel Gibson has been convicted. E!Online.com reports it only took a jury less than three hours to find Zack Sinclair guilty of felony stalking."

"... For over a year, the masseur, who asked that his name not be used, has been harassed by a stalker who places his name on mailing lists, orders items in his name and vilifies him in chat rooms on the Web. The unwanted mail doesn't come an item at a time. It comes in an avalanche every day... Most upsetting of all, he said, is the fact that although he has kept meticulous records and can provide evidence of phone calls, harassment over the Internet, and unwanted mail sent to his address, he has not been successful in garnering help from law enforcement. "I've contacted the FCC, the FTC, the FBI and the police, and nobody will help me," he said."

"Mel Gibson took a leap of faith today in a Southern California courtroom. The Passion of the Christ mastermind took the stand Thursday to face off against his accused stalker, Zack Sinclair."

"Try this: go to Google. Enter your phone number with the area code in the search box. In a matter of seconds, your name, your address and a map showing where you live pops up. Even if it is not supposed to be public information. "I had two unlisted numbers at my home," says Mark Spraggins. "After I received an e-mail about the phone-number search, I went on Google and put them in. They both came up with my name, my address and the map.""