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Pop Star Tells Fans To Send Their Twitter Passwords, But It Might Be Illegal (arstechnica.com)

Posted by msmash on from the topsy-turvy-world dept.

Cyrus Farivar, reporting for Ars Technica: As a new way to connect with his fans, Jack Johnson -- one half of the pop-rap duo Jack & Jack, not to be confused with the laid back Hawaiian singer-songwriter of the same name -- has spent the last month soliciting social media passwords. Using the hashtag #HackedByJohnson, the performer has tweeted at his fans to send him their passwords. (Why he didn't go for the shorter and catchier #JackHack, we'll never know.) Then, Johnson posts under his fans' Twitter accounts, leaving a short personalized message, as them. While Johnson and his fans likely find this password sharing silly and innocuous, legal experts say that Jack Johnson, 20, may be opening himself up to civil or criminal liability under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a notorious anti-hacking statute that dates back to the 1980s. "While the entertainer in question likely considers this password collection to be a harmless personalized promotional activity, there may indeed be legal implication of both the fans' and the entertainer's conduct," Andrea Matwyshyn, a law professor at Northeastern University, told Ars.

6 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Nope. This involves active sharing and consent. by aristotle-dude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is no "hacking" involved.

    --
    Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    1. Re:Nope. This involves active sharing and consent. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Twitter did not consent.

      That's irrelevant. That only makes it against their TOS, giving them grounds to terminate the account/service.
      However, that doesn't make it any more illegal than me posting an email with my neighbors credentials while fixing/testing his email software.

    2. Re:Nope. This involves active sharing and consent. by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But for once this insane law will hit "normal" people instead of just "computer geeks". And since people only start to think about insane laws when they have a "this could have been me!" experience, this might finally get something moving there.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. Re:Clinton VP vetting was doing same by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Vice President of the United States isn't your garden variety job. If this was an ordinary job that demanded my social media passwords, I would say, "Oh, hell no!"

    On a related note, I'm still waiting for Donald Trump to release his tax returns.

  3. Re:Um, what? It isn't that scary of a law by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No, we're being trolled by a law school professor who's trying to get some media exposure - and she's being aided and abetted by some person trying to get a paid at Ars Technica.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  4. Re:If you think Twitter is bad... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As an IT support technician, I had to prevent people from telling me their passwords. It never fails that find someone's password written on a Post-It note on their monitor or underneath their keyboard. Whenever a user compromises their password, I set their AD account to change password on next login

    So, when you are talking to a non-IT / non-IT savvy network user who has to "remember" 20 (and that's not a high number for some folks) different UID/PAS combos, what exactly is your suggestion beyond writing it down and securing the written source?

    This is an honest question that should not be poo-pooed by the "leet IT Dudes" as the fallout of moron netwrok users...

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.