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Palin E-Mail Snoop Gets Year In Prison
netbuzz writes "David Kernell, whose prying into Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account caused an uproar two months before the 2008 presidential election, was today sentenced to a year and a day by a judge in Knoxville, Tenn. Kernell was convicted of misdemeanor computer fraud and felony obstruction of justice back in April. His attorney had argued for probation on the grounds that what Kernell did amounted to a prank that spun out of control."
Then I wonder what punishment the guy who uncovered this has waiting for him.
I am pretty sure the actual sentence was 1 year 1 day in custody; to be served at a halfway house.
The local source - http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=13490313&Call=Email&Format=HTML
How Mark Zuckerberg Hacked Into Rival ConnectU In 2004
...At one point, Mark appears to have exploited a flaw in ConnectU's account verification process to create a fake Cameron Winklevoss account with a fake Harvard.edu email address.
Mar. 5, 2010
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-mark-zuckerberg-hacked-connectu-2010-3
In this new, fake profile, he listed Cameron's height as 7'4", his hair color as "Ayran Blond," and his eye color as "Sky Blue." He listed Cameron's "language" as "WASP-y."
Next, Mark appears to have logged into the accounts of some ConnectU users and changed their privacy settings to invisible. The idea here was apparently to make it harder for people to find friends on ConnectU, thus reducing its utility. Eventually, Mark appears to have gone a step further, deactivating about 20 ConnectU accounts entirely...
Or, as the article says, he was sentenced:
by a judge who recommended that the time be served in a Knoxville, Tenn. halfway house
A little bit different!!
Rich banker gets to escape felony hit and run charges, because the judge felt "a felony charge would hurt his ability to make shit tons of money"
http://dailybail.com/home/outrage-morgan-stanley-banker-escapes-felony-charges-for-hit.html
In related news, Sarah Palin is still on the loose, endangering all sanity as we know it.
Would he have received the same sentence if he had hacked the email of a random neighbour?
Actually, no, it's a more lenient sentence -- a year and a day means you're eligible for sentence reductions based on good behavior and the like; any less and you aren't.
It was guessing the answer to her Security Question that was publicly available on the internet. If that's "hacking" then I'm fucking Kevin Mitnick.
Most people's (snail) mail boxes are unlocked, but it's still mail fraud to go picking through them.
- RG>
Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
I'm glad I'm not the only one noticing the irony. Ms. Palin has been really supportive of the NSA's illegal wiretap program. I'm not sure what she thinks the problem is that it was her stuff being accessed or that it wasn't an NSA goon doing it for her protection.
Note he only got a misdemeanor, a slap on the wrist, for the actual computer fraud.
The government does not take obstruction of justice lightly and tends to give stiff sentences for it.
Aside from that, yes, an attack on an account for political gain to influence an election would reasonably bring a more severe punishment than simply doing it to see if you can. This wasn't just some kid. His dad is a powerful Democratic state legislator and was then a member of Obama's Tennessee campaign. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't doing dad's bidding, and is taking the fall to avoid ruining dad's career. Expect to see the payoff after this clears up, likely a well-paid position in a Democratic campaign in 2012.
Personally, I think he deserves extra time just for being stupid by using a single proxy that had a policy of turning over evidence of any illegal activity to the police. :)
What I don't understand from the left side of American politics is how they pick these targets for political "assassination." Obama had substantial lead over McCain in polls and such from the beginning. I could see him winning with little effort, as long as he didn't screw things up himself.
So then McCain goes for a long shot VP choice, a woman, etc. Sarah wasn't much of a politician herself, some nobody from Alaska honestly. She came out saying your average Republican catch phrases, smaller governement, less taxes, etc. I still didn't see her as helping McCain all that much. Yet, from that moment, the left came out viciously against her, more so than they were against McCain. Who is she? She isn't anybody. Mayor/Governor in Alaska? That's not even a real state. That doesn't count. She doesn't know anything about the "real" America. McCain's old and going to die and she'll be King of the Land. Oh my, we're done fer now if they win. She's stupid too, look, she messed up two words in onne sentence! She's got too many kids. Look at that last one, she can't even breed right. Her daughter's pregnant and unwed, how's that for Republican "values" for ya.
This cycle, it was just like that with Christine O'Donnell. Again, she had little chance from the beginning. The other guy was ahead by ten or more points much of the time. Yet, the left came right out every day with the same visceral hate. A witch! A witch I tell ya! She's stupid. A duck is stupid. Therefore she's a witch! Then the week before election, they dig up a guy who "slept" with her after one night out at bars one Halloween some years ago. See, she's a slut. She'll sleep with anybody. Republicans and their stupid values. Oh, she only slept at the guy's apartment, no sex? Oh well, she's still a slut!
Meg Whitman. Well, that one was a little close, within five points at times. Then it's fine if Jerry's wife calls her a whore. She was one after all.
I think this kid got wound up in this extreme ferver to demonize their opponent to the point that he thinks he'll become a hero finding out Sarah's massive number of secrets that she's discussing with people in her emails. Honestly, what are you going to find? Photos from a family reunion? The secret plans of the Bildeburgers, Illuminati, etc? Still, why not target the actual political enemies for this sort of stuff? McCain, people in much closer elections your side might lose, etc?