QUOTED

The allegations in the complaint merely establish that [the] defendant declared his feelings for the complainant. Conversely, the complaint is devoid of allegations that the defendant knew his declarations would be coldly received. The alleged messages that form the basis of the charge of aggravated harassment were transmitted through MySpace, a social-networking Web site that allows each user to choose which friends will be part of his or her network. When another MySpace user receives an invitation to be friends, he or she must choose whether or not to communicate with the requesting user. At any time, a MySpace user may remove friends from his or her network, or may block unwanted communications. Thus, while it is reasonable to assume that at some point, [the] complainant added the defendant, under his nom de plume “looking 4 the right one in my life,” to her list of friends, the complaint contains no allegations that [the] complainant attempted to quell [the] defendant’s love by blocking [the] defendant’s messages or by asking him to cease writing her. We therefore find that the complaint fails to show that the defendant intended to alarm, threaten or annoy the [complainant].”

–New York Criminal Court Judge Michael Gerstein rules that aggravated MySpace harassment is a grievance best handled by “unbuddying.”