Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Judge Rejects Guilty Plea From AOL Employee

Posted by timothy on from the I-want-this-judge-in-my-traffic-court dept.

The Hobo writes "Newsday has a story on a New York judge who rejected Jason Smather's guilty plea. Smathers, covered previously on Slashdot, was the AOL employee who stole and sold AOL addresses to spammers. The judge himself apparently cancelled his AOL subscription due to receiving too much spam. While he didn't like what Jason did, he wasn't convinced a crime had been committed under the CAN-SPAM law, which requires that a person be deceived."

4 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. Does not compute by October_30th · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Authorities said Smathers, who was fired by AOL in June, used another employee's access code to steal the list of AOL customers in 2003 from its headquarters in Dulles, Va., and sold it to spammers for more than $100,000.

    I don't understand how this is not deceptive, fraudulent and illegal...

    --
    The owls are not what they seem
    1. Re:Does not compute by The+Only+Druid · · Score: 5, Informative

      It doesn't matter if its deceptive or fradulent, because the charge was specifically done under a particular law: the can-spam act, which has specific requirements. The judge determined that the charge failed to allege an actual violation of that law.

      Essentially, the judge instituted a 12(b)(6) motion, dismissing the suit for failure to state a claim upon which action could be based.

      --
      "Stumble before you crawl"
  2. Ding! by Asshat+Canada · · Score: 5, Funny

    You've got Bail!

  3. Re:Theft / Invasion of Privacy by The+Only+Druid · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apparently, the prosecutors didn't believe they could prove those crimes, since the claim doesn't include charges of those crimes. The judge isn't allowed to create charges: the judge can only determine the validity of charges made by the prosecutors.

    --
    "Stumble before you crawl"