People have been convicted of hacking for merely editing URL strings, under the theory that were knowingly accessing systems in ways that they were not supposed

People have been convicted of hacking for merely editing URL strings, under the theory that were knowingly accessing systems in ways that they were not supposed to. This would be similar. Whether or not that seems reasonable to us is a different matter, but basically it boils down to the fact that "they left the door unlocked" doesn't make it legal to walk in.