Hacking Statute Could Jail Man for Reading Wife's Email

[NLS]

Am I the only one that feel like he got what he deserved?
Even if her password was easily obtainable, breaking into someone's privacy is pretty bad. Even if it was "just to uncover cheating", it's still the wrong method to use. Should have tried talking some sense into her or had a word with the authorities.
Just because something is easy to do, doesn't mean it's void of any laws or moral obligations. What if your neighbour broke into your house, because he found your key lying under the flower pot in the garden? Would that be acceptable?

 

[SilentHunter7]

"A person shall not intentionally and without authorization or by exceeding valid authorization do any of the following: Access or cause access to be made to a computer program, computer, computer system or computer network to acquire, alter, damage, delete or destroy property or otherwise use the service of a computer program, computer, computer system or computer network."

Wow, that is really, really vague. What were the lawmakers thinking??

 

[SilentHunter7]

Am I the only one that feel like he got what he deserved

Really? He deserves to have 5 years of his life taken away, and a felony on his record because he logged into his cheating wife's email?

What if your neighbour broke into your house, because he found your key lying under the flower pot in the garden? Would that be acceptable?

If he found his lost bike and Plasma TV in my living room? Yes.

Also, as long as you don't cause any damage or steal anything, breaking into someone's house would probably only get you a deferment, with community service or probation being the worst requirement you get. Especially if you had good reason to.

 

[SNIPERFOX ft. Harry P.Ness]

so, uncovering your wife is cheating on you by hacking is agianst the law?

 

[Bobzer77]

Thank you America, yet again you have made me lol.

 

[Dogstile]

..

...

A "highly trained hacker"? Searching Google Mail?

Excuse me America, once again, but your legal system is just fucking shit.

Because stupid shit only ever happens in America.

This is some retard lawyer trying to rage-jail a husband who discovered his wife was cheating, I'm sure he won't go to jail. Don't generalize.

We hear about it most often from America and it's widely regarded as being a flawed system in need of a reworking. There isn't a reason not to generalise because stuff like this happens hilariously often.

 

[MmmFiber]

And what's the moral of the story here? Be wary when marrying someone with 2 former husbands.

Basically this. But you have to hand it to the guy for alerting the first husband about the dangerous situation involving the kids.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Violating the cheating wife's email account becomes absolutely irrelevant when the poor man was trying to expose her affair.

Just goes to show that righteousness is never rewarded in this world.

 

[JDKJ]

wow, this guy better not get convicted, I mean all he did is find his wofes password. He never hacked he simply followed the standard log in process. But what if his wife never logged out, and he saw the email. Would that be hacking too?

Under Michigan law, it would. The statute states that:

"A person shall not intentionally and without authorization or by exceeding valid authorization do any of the following: Access or cause access to be made to a computer program, computer, computer system or computer network to acquire, alter, damage, delete or destroy property or otherwise use the service of a computer program, computer, computer system or computer network."

That the alleged victim hasn't logged out doesn't matter as long as the person who follows behind them does not have their permission or isn't in any other way authorized to access their property. Your question is a lot like asking whether, if an alleged victim hasn't logged out of their ATM bank account, the person who follows behind them and then withdraws $100 from their account shouldn't be held liable for theft because they were dumb enough to not log out of their account. The answer to that question is that it's a clear case of theft.

Don't get yourself caught up in the word "hacking." Just because this isn't a case of "hacking" as the word is more commonly used doesn't mean that it's still not a case of unauthorized access to someone's property on a computer (which is really what "hacking" is all about and less about the particular ways and means used to gain the unauthorized access.)

 

[JDKJ]

Am I the only one that feel like he got what he deserved

Really? He deserves to have 5 years of his life taken away, and a felony on his record because he logged into his cheating wife's email?

What if your neighbour broke into your house, because he found your key lying under the flower pot in the garden? Would that be acceptable?

If he found his lost bike and Plasma TV in my living room? Yes.

Also, as long as you don't cause any damage or steal anything, breaking into someone's house would probably only get you a deferment, with community service or probation being the worst requirement you get. Especially if you had good reason to.

No, it wouldn't be acceptable and certainly isn't a defense to breaking and entering or burglary. If you have good reason to suspect that your stolen property is in your neighbor's house, you don't get to take the law into your own hands and recovery the property yourself. Rather, you get to report your suspicions to the proper law enforcement agency for them to handle the situation as they see fit.

And, FYI, both breaking and entering and burglary are felony criminal offenses with serious penalties attached. If you're charged with either offense, I wouldn't be so quick to assume that you'll skate with a slap on the wrist.

 

[firetamer13]

Always sad when things come to this. But incidents like these confirm my conviction that marriages should not be recognized under the law, in other words married people should be regarded no differently than single people cohabitating. Yeah I also agree with the above that incidents like these and many others becoming increasingly more common confirm why we need a second amendment.

THIS! So much this!
OT: It is an invasion of privacy. IMO the guy shouldn't be found guilty as the (sloppily written) law clearly does not apply to this case in the way the prosecution in presenting it. However, how would you like some "official" using your password that you had "lying around" in a Word file somewhere to snoop through your stuff? The legal precedent here (other rant about so called "precedents" loading) is the real battle. Is it fine to perform what amounts to a tossing of your property as long as it was accessed in a legal way?
I guess it could technically could be found to be allowed when the person doing the snooping was a spouse or family member with "good" intentions but still it just demonstrates some already apparent flaws in the American court system. (American speaking here)

 

[Del-Toro]

Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper needs to be fired and banned from practicing law. Odds are she's having an affair of her own if she responded with this crap. Go away lady.

I'm glad I wasn't the only person thinking that.

It's not as if the guy used the information irresponsibly. As far as I know he wasn't extorting the adulteress, he let the child's father know what his kid was being dragged into (seriously, that's some low shit right there), and, obviously feeling somewhat betrayed, filed for divorce. Frankly, for the kid's sake I'm glad he got the documents, there's no way a court would let her keep custody at that point, even though North American (I'm Canadian) divorce law tends to favour shitty mothers over decent fathers.

 

[Danpascooch]

..

...

A "highly trained hacker"? Searching Google Mail?

Excuse me America, once again, but your legal system is just fucking shit.

Because stupid shit only ever happens in America.

This is some retard lawyer trying to rage-jail a husband who discovered his wife was cheating, I'm sure he won't go to jail. Don't generalize.

We hear about it most often from America and it's widely regarded as being a flawed system in need of a reworking. There isn't a reason not to generalise because stuff like this happens hilariously often.

Of course the system is flawed, all of the systems are flawed.

The reason we here it most out of America is for two reasons:

1.) America has one of the most powerful if not THE most powerful media/news presence in the world
2.) America has a much larger population than countries like England, meaning that even if the ratio is the same, much more crazy shit will happen here due to sheer number of people.

So there's no reason to generalize.

 

[Dogstile]

..

...

A "highly trained hacker"? Searching Google Mail?

Excuse me America, once again, but your legal system is just fucking shit.

Because stupid shit only ever happens in America.

This is some retard lawyer trying to rage-jail a husband who discovered his wife was cheating, I'm sure he won't go to jail. Don't generalize.

We hear about it most often from America and it's widely regarded as being a flawed system in need of a reworking. There isn't a reason not to generalise because stuff like this happens hilariously often.

Of course the system is flawed, all of the systems are flawed.

The reason we here it most out of America is for two reasons:

1.) America has one of the most powerful if not THE most powerful media/news presence in the world
2.) America has a much larger population than countries like England, meaning that even if the ratio is the same, much more crazy shit will happen here due to sheer number of people.

So there's no reason to generalize.

That's exactly the reason the generalise. The more people hear about it, the more people are inclined to think that way. Its psychology on the simplest level. Of course all systems are flawed, but that doesn't make your system any better.

Therefore, I will generalise away.

 

[ascorbius]

Not read all the replies..

In my view, they are married.. Therefore what's his is hers and what's hers is his etc...

See where I'm going with this?

No Crime Happened.

So in effect, he's hacking his own mail account as legally it belongs to him too.
She should be able to read his emails too without any worries.

If he was hacking her work email account, that's a totally different kettle of fish.

 

[Danpascooch]

..

...

A "highly trained hacker"? Searching Google Mail?

Excuse me America, once again, but your legal system is just fucking shit.

Because stupid shit only ever happens in America.

This is some retard lawyer trying to rage-jail a husband who discovered his wife was cheating, I'm sure he won't go to jail. Don't generalize.

We hear about it most often from America and it's widely regarded as being a flawed system in need of a reworking. There isn't a reason not to generalise because stuff like this happens hilariously often.

Of course the system is flawed, all of the systems are flawed.

The reason we here it most out of America is for two reasons:

1.) America has one of the most powerful if not THE most powerful media/news presence in the world
2.) America has a much larger population than countries like England, meaning that even if the ratio is the same, much more crazy shit will happen here due to sheer number of people.

So there's no reason to generalize.

That's exactly the reason the generalise. The more people hear about it, the more people are inclined to think that way. Its psychology on the simplest level. Of course all systems are flawed, but that doesn't make your system any better.

Therefore, I will generalise away.

I didn't say our system was better, but I certainly don't think retarded legal issues are something that is unique to our country as the original quote seems to imply:

"Excuse me America, once again, but your legal system is just fucking shit."

Saying the entire country's legal system is "fucking shit" implies that it is worse than other countries' legal systems because that is the only frame of reference. My point is that statically there is no basis for saying we are worse than any other country, and especially none for saying it is "fucking shit" in comparison to other countries.

Do I think our legal system needs reform? Yes, I do. Do I think it is "fucking shit" in comparison to other countries' who are supposedly getting it right? NO! I also don't think it's fair to say that groundlessly.

 

[JDKJ]

..

...

A "highly trained hacker"? Searching Google Mail?

Excuse me America, once again, but your legal system is just fucking shit.

Because stupid shit only ever happens in America.

This is some retard lawyer trying to rage-jail a husband who discovered his wife was cheating, I'm sure he won't go to jail. Don't generalize.

We hear about it most often from America and it's widely regarded as being a flawed system in need of a reworking. There isn't a reason not to generalise because stuff like this happens hilariously often.

Of course the system is flawed, all of the systems are flawed.

The reason we here it most out of America is for two reasons:

1.) America has one of the most powerful if not THE most powerful media/news presence in the world
2.) America has a much larger population than countries like England, meaning that even if the ratio is the same, much more crazy shit will happen here due to sheer number of people.

So there's no reason to generalize.

That's exactly the reason the generalise. The more people hear about it, the more people are inclined to think that way. Its psychology on the simplest level. Of course all systems are flawed, but that doesn't make your system any better.

Therefore, I will generalise away.

I didn't say our system was better, but I certainly don't think retarded legal issues are something that is unique to our country as the original quote seems to imply:

"Excuse me America, once again, but your legal system is just fucking shit."

Saying the entire country's legal system is "fucking shit" implies that it is worse than other countries' legal systems because that is the only frame of reference. My point is that statically there is no basis for saying we are worse than any other country, and especially none for saying it is "fucking shit" in comparison to other countries.

Do I think our legal system needs reform? Yes, I do. Do I think it is "fucking shit" in comparison to other countries' who are supposedly getting it right? NO! I also don't think it's fair to say that groundlessly.

I'd ignore it, if I were you. I've noticed that any article involving America posted here is almost guaranteed to result in more than a fair amount of responses that don't do much of anything other than bash America. As if the posters live in some sort of Utopian country devoid of any social ills of it's own. And what adds to the weirdness is that they all flock here, an American-based website, which inclines me to conclude that as great as they may think their own countries are, they lack comparable gaming websites to which they can flock. Which is kinda like being invited into someone's house because you're homeless and then criticizing their furniture.

 

[Danpascooch]

..

...

A "highly trained hacker"? Searching Google Mail?

Excuse me America, once again, but your legal system is just fucking shit.

Because stupid shit only ever happens in America.

This is some retard lawyer trying to rage-jail a husband who discovered his wife was cheating, I'm sure he won't go to jail. Don't generalize.

We hear about it most often from America and it's widely regarded as being a flawed system in need of a reworking. There isn't a reason not to generalise because stuff like this happens hilariously often.

Of course the system is flawed, all of the systems are flawed.

The reason we here it most out of America is for two reasons:

1.) America has one of the most powerful if not THE most powerful media/news presence in the world
2.) America has a much larger population than countries like England, meaning that even if the ratio is the same, much more crazy shit will happen here due to sheer number of people.

So there's no reason to generalize.

That's exactly the reason the generalise. The more people hear about it, the more people are inclined to think that way. Its psychology on the simplest level. Of course all systems are flawed, but that doesn't make your system any better.

Therefore, I will generalise away.

I didn't say our system was better, but I certainly don't think retarded legal issues are something that is unique to our country as the original quote seems to imply:

"Excuse me America, once again, but your legal system is just fucking shit."

Saying the entire country's legal system is "fucking shit" implies that it is worse than other countries' legal systems because that is the only frame of reference. My point is that statically there is no basis for saying we are worse than any other country, and especially none for saying it is "fucking shit" in comparison to other countries.

Do I think our legal system needs reform? Yes, I do. Do I think it is "fucking shit" in comparison to other countries' who are supposedly getting it right? NO! I also don't think it's fair to say that groundlessly.

I'd ignore it, if I were you. I've noticed that any article involving America posted here is almost guaranteed to result in more than a fair amount of responses that don't do much of anything other than bash America. As if the posters live in some sort of Utopian country devoid of any social ills of it's own. And what adds to the weirdness is that they all flock here, an American-based website, which inclines me to conclude that as great as they may think their own countries are, they lack comparable gaming websites to which they can flock. Which is kinda like being invited into someone's house because you're homeless and then criticizing their furniture.

I'm gonna quote you when he responds.