Alleged cyber bully Lori Drew was officially acquitted on Friday when US District Judge George H. Wu issued a ruling in which he said that violating a website's terms of service is not a criminal offense. This ruling affirms an opinion that he issued last month when he revealed his intention to throw out the conviction against Drew.

Drew was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2008 for her role in a MySpace hoax that led to the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier. Prosecutors charged her under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), contending that her violation of MySpace's terms of service was tantamount to hacking. They rationalized this legal theory by arguing that using a website while failing to conform with its usage policy constitutes "unauthorized access," which is forbidden by the CFAA.

The Jury found Drew guilty of misdemeanor counts of unauthorized access, but Judge Wu did not accept the reasoning and suggested in his opinion last month that the CFAA was not devised as a vehicle for criminalizing simple contractual violations on the Internet. As the issue hinges on interpretation of the law rather than a dispute over the facts of the case, Wu has the authority to override the Jury's decision.

He granted Drew's original motion for dismissal in his decision on Friday. In his decision, he discusses the meaning of "unauthorized access" and explains the basis for his interpretation.

"It is unclear that every intentional breach of a website's terms of service would be or should be held to be equivalent to an intent to access the site without authorization or in excess of authorization," Judge Wu wrote in his decision. "This is especially the case with MySpace and similar Internet venues which are publicly available for access and use."

The ruling will be welcomed by the EFF and other Internet rights groups that filed Amicus briefs calling for the courts to remain cautious about setting broad precedents that could criminalize many legitimate Internet behaviors.