IP: No contest plea in online stalking case

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Posted-Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 15:39:48 -0500
From: Mark Eckenwiler <eck () panix com>




     On January 24, Andrew Archambeau pleaded "nolo contendere" (no
contest) to charges that he had stalked a former date in 1994.
Michigan prosecutors alleged that Archambeau, whose case has received
widespread publicity, harassed the woman with a long series of
unwanted electronic mail messages urging her to date him again.  (The
case also involved messages on her answering machine, packages sent in
the mail, and one instance of appearing outside the victim's
workplace, although the e-mail messages formed the heart of the case
against the Dearborn Heights, Michigan man.)


     Archambeau's plea is believed to mark the first "online stalking"
conviction in the U.S.  Sentencing is set for March 22.  Archambeau
faces up to a year in jail and $1,000 fine.


     For details about the case (up to but not including the plea),
and a discussion of the online stalking provisions in various
U.S. jurisdictions, see my column in the February issue of NetGuide,
now available at


     http://techweb.cmp.com/net/issues/026issue/026law.htm