As codified in the 'Patriot Act' (a body of legislation, BTW, held in *very* low esteem by myself, and, I can only hope, every liberty-loving citizen!) the terms 'trolling', 'spamming', 'hacking', etc... (as applied to information technology with emphasis upon networking) are definable as felonies...

I'm sorry, but if you can find even the most oblique reference to spamming or trolling in the Patriot Act, I'd love to see your references. The words you mention don't appear at all in my text of the act, although "hacking" certain computers has always been a felony.

You do know what a "troll" is, don't you? It's the BBS equivalent of the kid who comes into his mom's Tupperware party and drops his pants just to see what they do. Pretty sure it's not illegal as yet.