A U.S. judge has tossed out the convictions of a Missouri woman for her role in a hoax on MySpace that led to a 13-year-old neighbour girl committing suicide.

U.S. District Judge George Wu said he was acquitting Lori Drew of misdemeanor counts of accessing computers without authorization.

But he says the ruling is tentative until he issues it in writing.

The judge also noted that there was a judge who changed his mind after issuing such a ruling.

Drew was convicted in November for her role in the hoax.

But the judge says the woman basically was charged with violating the terms of service of the MySpace site.

Wu says it would be unconstitutional if anyone who violated a site's TOS would be guilty of a misdemeanor.