Mike Seidle ...notes from the road

As a long time programmer, internet user and interested citizen, I'm watching the outcome of the recent hack of Gov. Sarah Palin's email box. What is fascinating is that we have a young person who thinks that our public official's private affairs are his business.  At this point, we have a lot of partisan bickering... that ignores the central point: either email boxes are private property or they are not.  It will be interesting to see how the law is enforced on this one.  I suspect that a young person is about to learn a serious lesson.

Little or No Jail Time Likely for Palin Hacker | Threat Level from Wired.com

As mentioned above, the hacker could still be prosecuted under the CFAA, though likely for a misdemeanor, not a felony, since there was no actual loss that resulted from the hack. More specifically, he'd be prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. 1030(a)(2)(C), accessing a protected computer without authorization to obtain information.