back to article Court reinstates ID theft charges in email hack case

US judges are grappling with the implications of a workplace email hacking case that led to the suicide of a local official. Christopher Baron, 33, an emergency medical technician from Wisconsin, allegedly hacked into the email account of EMS Director Mark Fisher back in August 2006. Messages suggesting Fisher was engaged in …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Good thing for him

    That he wasn't caught snooping in open military servers or he would really be in trouble.

  2. kain preacher

    first amendment

    Lawyers acting for Baron objected to the identity theft charge. Defence lawyers also claimed Baron enjoyed first amendment (free speech) exemptions in criticising a public

    So i have the right to hack an e-mail account under the first amendment ?

    That lawyer is full of it

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    One day?

    I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but one day of gossip and this guy tops himself?

    How on earth did he survive several years of school?!

  4. Andy Bright

    re first amendment

    No, I think they were trying to say that sending messages using the email account of someone else is protected free speech. Which is equally the bullshit you're calling. He was free to send those messages, provided they were true, using his own account and the government did nothing to stop him from doing so.

    The State on the other hand is saying using someone's email account without their permission is the same thing as pretending to be that person. And in this case you have to say they have a point. ID theft is not just about stealing money, it's the pretending to be the other person for malicious purposes part that's important.

    I don't get why the guy killed himself, he could have got this person thrown in prison and cleared his name that way, so he must have been on the edge anyway.

  5. Rod MacLean

    RE: re first amendment

    Andy Bright wrote: "I don't get why the guy killed himself, he could have got this person thrown in prison and cleared his name that way, so he must have been on the edge anyway."

    Maybe he actually did have an extra-marital affair and knew his wife was going to kill him when he got home anyway...

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