4 ms·

This sentence is everything wrong with the American justice system. I do NOT want my tax payer dollars to be spent keeping a hacker in jail along with with murd

This sentence is everything wrong with the American justice system. I do NOT want my tax payer dollars to be spent keeping a hacker in jail along with with murderers and rapists. Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton drive around coked up and drunk and get either probation or a 1 month/1 year sentence but someone hacking a phone (who doesn't endanger anyone's life) gets 10 years???

adharmad 14y ago
Punishments in the US are not proportional to the crime committed, nor are they deterrent. They are simply a factor of who lobbied the government at that time to pass those laws. In some sense, they are random. Sometimes, punishments for violent crimes are lower than those for downloading songs/movies or some victimless crimes like recreational drugs.
rpm4321 14y ago
Yes and no. I believe 10 years is obviously a bit much in this case, but if you tweak the variables a bit, this sort of thing can be tantamount to a sexual assault. Imagine it's your sister or girlfriend involved, and the pictures are splashed across Facebook by an ex-boyfriend. In this case, the victims are certainly less sympathetic, but the principle is basically the same. It reminds me a bit of this Hunter Moore business: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4890088 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4890088
- DanBC 14y ago
  I would be very angry. I would want the person to understand just how distressing their actions had been. I would want them to feel sorry for what they had done, and I would want them to know that this is not something that they will ever do again. I would want the person to make some kind of restitution. Putting that person in prison achieves none of that. Obviously, that's just my personal opinion, and I kind of understand that other people feel differently.
- rhizome 14y ago
  Imagine it's your sister or girlfriend involved... If that's what justifies this degree of sentence, then I despair for our justice system (more than before). The principle you say is "basically the same," implies the standard should be "taking it personally." However, Lady Justice wears a blindfold as a symbol against just this reasoning.
- garyrichardson 14y ago
  Which is exactly why this is so stupid. If someone stole my identity and/or posted nude pics of myself it would be next to impossible for me bring the person to court and get a conviction, let alone put them in jail for 10 years.
- vacri 14y ago
  Why do we have to imagine a sister or girlfriend, instead of ourselves?
Udo 14y ago
While I'm pretty sure that the length of his sentence is first and foremost a function of his victims' high profiles, a bit of background on his MO changed my mind about the importance of removing this guy from society: http://news.yahoo.com/hollywood-hacker-honed-skills-years-074234249.html http://news.yahoo.com/hollywood-hacker-honed-skills-years-07... He really had this coming.
MichaelGG 14y ago
Do they go in with murderers and rapists? I was under the impression that hacking was a "white collar crime", and you'd most likely end up in prison camp. Or does the federal system not differentiate? Anyways, this is not a case of some guy just accessing email. He "stole" identities, photographs and other stuff. According to the FBI site, he even continued to do so after his computers were raided. Instead of thinking about the hacking, think about the actual damage of identity theft, invading privacy by leaking personal documents, and so on. (Not that 10 years is a perfect sentence, and not that other sentencing makes sense.)

adharmad 14y ago

Punishments in the US are not proportional to the crime committed, nor are they deterrent. They are simply a factor of who lobbied the government at that time to pass those laws. In some sense, they are random. Sometimes, punishments for violent crimes are lower than those for downloading songs/movies or some victimless crimes like recreational drugs.

rpm4321 14y ago

Yes and no. I believe 10 years is obviously a bit much in this case, but if you tweak the variables a bit, this sort of thing can be tantamount to a sexual assault. Imagine it's your sister or girlfriend involved, and the pictures are splashed across Facebook by an ex-boyfriend. In this case, the victims are certainly less sympathetic, but the principle is basically the same. It reminds me a bit of this Hunter Moore business: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4890088 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4890088

DanBC 14y ago
I would be very angry. I would want the person to understand just how distressing their actions had been. I would want them to feel sorry for what they had done, and I would want them to know that this is not something that they will ever do again. I would want the person to make some kind of restitution. Putting that person in prison achieves none of that. Obviously, that's just my personal opinion, and I kind of understand that other people feel differently.
rhizome 14y ago
Imagine it's your sister or girlfriend involved... If that's what justifies this degree of sentence, then I despair for our justice system (more than before). The principle you say is "basically the same," implies the standard should be "taking it personally." However, Lady Justice wears a blindfold as a symbol against just this reasoning.
garyrichardson 14y ago
Which is exactly why this is so stupid. If someone stole my identity and/or posted nude pics of myself it would be next to impossible for me bring the person to court and get a conviction, let alone put them in jail for 10 years.
vacri 14y ago
Why do we have to imagine a sister or girlfriend, instead of ourselves?

Udo 14y ago

While I'm pretty sure that the length of his sentence is first and foremost a function of his victims' high profiles, a bit of background on his MO changed my mind about the importance of removing this guy from society: http://news.yahoo.com/hollywood-hacker-honed-skills-years-074234249.html http://news.yahoo.com/hollywood-hacker-honed-skills-years-07... He really had this coming.

MichaelGG 14y ago

Do they go in with murderers and rapists? I was under the impression that hacking was a "white collar crime", and you'd most likely end up in prison camp. Or does the federal system not differentiate? Anyways, this is not a case of some guy just accessing email. He "stole" identities, photographs and other stuff. According to the FBI site, he even continued to do so after his computers were raided. Instead of thinking about the hacking, think about the actual damage of identity theft, invading privacy by leaking personal documents, and so on. (Not that 10 years is a perfect sentence, and not that other sentencing makes sense.)