A Digg user is being charged with a felony, after he submitted a YouTube video explaining his side of an argument over a stolen camcorder. Apparently he listed the alleged thief’s phone number in the video, and is now being charged with ‘Unlawful Posting of Message’. Apparently this states that “you can’t post a message on the internet that would cause unconsented contact to another person,” whatever that means. It’s punishable by 2 years in prison and/or a $5000 fine.

I am being charged with a felony for a digg story I submitted last month. It was the #1 dugg video for May 13, and was linked to YouTube telling about a Sony HDV camcorder that was stolen from me. The story showed the phone number of the theft suspect, which is illegal under Michigan law. I’m in trouble and the thief goes free—Be careful diggers!

These nasty arguments and legal wrangling go on in their thousands every single day, but it is a new twist that they play out on the web for all to see. Digg caused this problem, and now Digg is being used to publicise it. If I had just unknowingly committed a felony by posting something online, then I probably wouldn’t draw more attention to it by posting the story on Digg without consulting a lawyer first. Let’s hope he has. ::Digg

A Digg user is being charged with a felony, after he submitted a YouTube video explaining his side of an argument over a stolen camcorder. Apparently he listed the alleged thief’s phone number in the video, and is now being charged with ‘Unlawful Posting of Message’. Apparently this states that “you can’t post a message on the internet that would cause unconsented contact to another person,” whatever that means. It’s punishable by 2 years in prison and/or a $5000 fine.

I am being charged with a felony for a digg story I submitted last month. It was the #1 dugg video for May 13, and was linked to YouTube telling about a Sony HDV camcorder that was stolen from me. The story showed the phone number of the theft suspect, which is illegal under Michigan law. I’m in trouble and the thief goes free—Be careful diggers!

These nasty arguments and legal wrangling go on in their thousands every single day, but it is a new twist that they play out on the web for all to see. Digg caused this problem, and now Digg is being used to publicise it. If I had just unknowingly committed a felony by posting something online, then I probably wouldn’t draw more attention to it by posting the story on Digg without consulting a lawyer first. Let’s hope he has. ::Digg