Judge Refuses To Convict Hacker

Jake96 writes "A judge in Wellington, New Zealand, declined to convict a man who ran an unrequested security audit on a bank's phone systems and was charged with 'intentionally accessing a computer system knowing he was not authorized to,' according to an article in the New Zealand Herald."

Comments

Miracles!

[soft_guy]

A judge who uses common sense. Wow!

Re:Miracles!

[Who235]

He did not pass the information on to others and did not use it for personal gain. "In my view his intentions were honourable."

I know. Amazing isn't it.

Although there was the slight matter of calling the bank and presenting a bill for services that were never asked for, but I'm willing to chalk that up to creative marketing. . .

On a side note, my uncle (who is a lawyer) has a low opinion of judges and tells the following joke which you may tell your friends under the JPL (joke public license):

Q:What do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 50?
A:Your Honor. (Substitute M'Lud or other region appropriate judge appellation here if necessary.)

Re:Miracles!

[icepick72]

On a side note, my uncle (who is a lawyer) has a low opinion of judges and tells the following joke

Enlightening indeed. After all those lawyer jokes the lawyers finally made a joke about somebody else ... and it wasn't even funny! Nice try by the lawyers, but there's gotta' be another lawyer joke in there somewhere.

Re:Miracles!

[Cyberax]

It's the only joke about lawyers. The rest are true stories.

Re:Miracles!

[Chuck Chunder]

Q:What do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 50? A:Your Honor. (Substitute M'Lud or other region appropriate judge appellation here if necessary.)

Or for even more entertainment, use both. F. E. Smith to witness: "So, you were as drunk as a judge?"
Judge (interjecting): "You mean as drunk as a lord?"
F. E. Smith: "Yes, My Lord."

First Xena, then LoTR, now this

[bunions]

what is it over there, like some kind of geek paradise?

Re:First Xena, then LoTR, now this

[Introspective]

what is it over there, like some kind of geek paradise?

Yep, thats why they created the .geek.nz 2LD. Geeks are taken seriously in NZ, almost as important as the sheep.

Re:First Xena, then LoTR, now this

[Petrushka]

what is it over there, like some kind of geek paradise?

No way, hell you should see what passes for broadband here.

Re:Insert dick here

[Who235]

Is that your anus? Are you propositioning me?

And wouldn't that make us "Linux fuck-anuses" and not "Linux fuckheads?"

Your troll is very confusing.

You must be American

[Anonymous Coward]

New Zealand was never a penal colony, so has never had criminals shipped to it, other than the state visits by royalty and presidents. You are obviously thinking of Australia, a completely separate country about 1800 km away. You could drop Texas into the gap in between. (and nobody would miss it either)

Re:Borderline scam?

[xs650]

Right, who does he think he is , the government?

Re:No surprise

[Simon Garlick]

With your ignorance of geography, I can only assume you're American. My sympathies. Nice work on that whole "War on Terror" thing, by the way.

Re:Can this set a precedent here in the States?

[Fordiman]

He committed no intentional crime. He was identified a security flaw, and provided this info to the bank before asking for money. Sure, it's a little like the guy who washes your windshield at a sopt light asking for money, but it's far from dishonest.

If the bank were a computer company with the present mindset, the bank would get to work on fixing the problem, and he'd have been ignored when he asked for cash, rather than prosecuted.

Re:Can this set a precedent here in the States?

[montyzooooma]

"He's very lucky he did it in NZ where it appears that the courts consider him stupid rather than malicious. In other countries he might get charged with terrorism related offenses or worse."

Can anyone point to an example where "other countries" doesn't just mean the US?

Re:Can this set a precedent here in the States?

[Fred_A]

I just remove my windshield. The look on their faces when they try to wipe it is worth it.

Re:"Researcher" was stupid

[Fred_A]

The problem is that this could set a precedent:
"Thank you for your prompt payment of my security bill. During your vacation, I took the liberty of redesigning your house by adding turrets in the corners, a moat and a drawbridge. I also painted it striped pink and orange. Your garden now sports a beautiful 35m marble fountain representing 'Mammals Overtaking Dinosaurs' (an allegory). I left your mail on the little table by the door. Please find my bill for $7 897 463 attached."