Significantly, Dr. Meloy points out that the Internet can be used for two criminal functions associated to stalking. One, to gather private information on the target to further a pursuit, and two, to communicate with the target to implicitly or explicitly threaten or to induce fear. He used the name of a female classmate in his electronic correspondence with another man. In e-mail communications, the offender wrote that he planned where and how to carry out his attack by kidnaping the victim at gunpoint, raping, torturing, and then killing her. He was charged with Interstate Transmission of a Threat to Injure, a felony under Federal Law.
Federal law provides an important tool to combat cyberstalking.
This law includes threats transmitted over the telephone, e-mail, beepers, or the Internet. The law does not actually cover non-interstate communications. Although this is an excellent law it does not apply in situations where a cyberstalker engages in a pattern of conduct merely to harass or annoy without making an actual threat. It also does not prohibit stalkers from obtaining information about a victim from Internet Information Providers that stalkers use to locate the victim or obtain personal information, such as the victim's address, social security number, or place of employment, as was the situation in the Amy Boyer Case. Additionally, it does not cover a growing phenomena whereby the stalker goes on-line and pretends to be the victim and invites literally thousands of others to approach or contact the victim due to a claimed interest or desire in certain sexual activities, inappropriate conduct, etc.