Good luck to the Legislature in its mission to halt cyberbullying, an ugly and dangerous way to anonymously disburse public shaming across a wide audience with a few key strokes.

A Beacon Hill hearing was held last week on anti-bullying bills; groups including the Massachusetts Teachers Association and Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association back the movement.

The suicide of a student after he was targeted on Facebook is the incentive; other suicides have been similarly motivated and thousands of complaints of cruelty have been reported.

Cyberbullying includes rumors, threats, intimidation, name-calling and tactics aimed at excluding individuals from the group.

"A characteristic that makes cyberbullying particularly insidious is that derogatory statements or threats and humiliating pictures or videos of a person can instantaneously be sent to hundreds of viewers with the click of a button" write Elizabeth Englander and Amy M. Muldowney of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State College. "Bad as it is to be cornered by a schoolyard bully in an isolated corner of the schoolyard, there isn't a vast audience to witness your humiliation." Put yourself in the shoes of a middle schooler exposed to profoundly embarrassing derision on a Web site with global access.

But we caution that any curb to opinion - no matter how grotesque - may conflict with the First Amendment. If reins are applied to one quarter, they could be extended across the spectrum.

Web sites posters, for instance, might find statements curtailed. We're often taken aback by the incivility on our own Web site and the mean-spiritedness that can arise. As case law stands, we are given no middle ground between allowing or entirely deleting comments. If lawmakers can clear even a few feet of the Internet freedom minefield without infringing on the Constitution, they will hear applause from this corner.

The best case scenario for everyone would be a society that monitors itself, bringing respect and decorum to bear in all communications. This is simply not realistic.

In one of the most closely-watched cyberbullying cases, federal prosecutors have announced they will not appeal a judge's dismissal of Lori Drew of Missouri's convictions for her role in a MySpace hoax directed at a girl, 13, who committed suicide. Drew had allegedly posed as a boy to harass the former friend of her daughter's.

A Los Angeles federal judge had thrown out the woman's conviction on three misdemeanor counts, citing the vagueness of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Statute that led to the charges.

Why are some people drawn to harm others? Everyone knows that bullying, inflicting emotional or physical pain, stinks. Problem is, some bullies may actually be wired to hurt other people to heighten their own pleasure. This theory suggests even more oversight is needed by schools - with parental involvement - in monitoring kids who like to harass peers.

Self-serving cruelty will be tough to contain. But attempts to rein it in will at least send a message to the targets of bullies that a lot of good folks are in their corner.

Bullying is not inconsequential. It has been proven to be a life-or-death matter.