A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

#1

Post by quantified » Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 10:10 PM UTC

A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months
arstechnica.com

Re: A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

#2

Post by silisili » Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 10:35 PM UTC

This is completely dystopian. Did he have the worst legal defense possible, or are Canadian laws such that an IP address is sufficient for any claimed charges to just stick?

Re: A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

#3

Post by protocolture » Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 10:39 PM UTC

silisili wrote: post #2

This is completely dystopian. Did he have the worst legal defense possible, or are Canadian laws such that an IP address is sufficient for any claimed charges to just stick?

I am betting the judge accepted all the messages as evidence, and that was enough to convict.

Theres no one technical in a court room.

Re: A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

#4

Post by shen » Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 10:40 PM UTC

The premise of Brazil (1985)

Re: A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

#5

Post by whiterock » Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 10:42 PM UTC

Perhaps there should be input fields that are paste-only, no typing allowed (or only with extra modal warnings).

Re: A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

#6

Post by arjie » Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 10:53 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

#7

Post by tossitawayplz » Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 10:53 PM UTC

silisili wrote: post #2

This is completely dystopian. Did he have the worst legal defense possible, or are Canadian laws such that an IP address is sufficient for any claimed charges to just stick?

This is absolutely insane, if the article is truly accurate they literally had NO evidence besides the user name (which was wrong.)

Re: A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

#8

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

#9

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: A missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

#10

Post by dtagames » Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC

shen wrote: post #4

The premise of Brazil (1985)

Came here to say this! You beat me to it.