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Reporter may be prosecuted for using “view source”

stltoday.com

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Re: Reporter may be prosecuted for using “view source”

#11

Post by kposehn »

Toutouxc wrote: post #9

I have no idea how US courts work. Can whatever it is that's currently happening end in the reporter "winning" and possibly walking away with some compensation?

There is malicious prosecution, which allows a defendant to sue the plaintiff for knowingly prosecuting even though they knew (or reasonably suspected) they were wrong or did so with ill intent.

Typically, this can only be done after prevailing in court as I understand it and the bar for success is quite high.

Re: Reporter may be prosecuted for using “view source”

#12

Post by jimbob45 »

Toutouxc wrote: post #9

I have no idea how US courts work. Can whatever it is that's currently happening end in the reporter "winning" and possibly walking away with some compensation?

Yes[0]. It's unlikely to ever get that far though - 95% of cases settle pre-trial [1] because this kind of stuff is all fun and games until someone has to put their words on the line. Especially when you're the governor and big public losses like these weigh heavily in voters' minds.

[0]https://focuslawla.com/rare-happens-plaintiff-ordered-pay-de...

[1]https://thelawdictionary.org/article/what-percentage-of-laws...

Re: Reporter may be prosecuted for using “view source”

#13

Post by dekhn »

Toutouxc wrote: post #9

I have no idea how US courts work. Can whatever it is that's currently happening end in the reporter "winning" and possibly walking away with some compensation?

The prosecutor isn't going to initiate this case (no matter how much the governor says so) because they know they will lose and in losing, embarass the state even worse (since during discovery it will come out that the people who let the error happen in the first place were incompetent).

STL covered its tracks perfectly on this one; if they did lose, it would be a token loss.

Re: Reporter may be prosecuted for using “view source”

#15

Post by GuB-42 »

I think that it is a bit far fetched here but where do you draw the line between what is an intrusion and what is not?

To continue with the prosecutor analogy of the lock, having a shitty lock doesn't allow others to enter your house, but what if there is no lock, and what if the door is wide open? If you write "do not look" on top of your source code, can you prosecute someone who looked at it? If not, can you open a package marked "for Alice" if you are Bob, even if it is unsecured.

For computer security, what is punishable? Obviously, using exploits and installing rootkits is, but what about deciphering weakly encrypted streams, what about accessing "secret" urls that do not have access control, what about probing undocumented APIs.

For me, it is just the prosecutor doing his job of accusation, maybe poorly, I don't know, but if there is a trial, there will be a defense attorney, and a judge, and hopefully a reasonable verdict.

Re: Reporter may be prosecuted for using “view source”

#16

Post by HPsquared »

Finnucane wrote: post #8
magikaram wrote: post #4

Alas, yet another article that displays the incompetence of my state's governing body.

This doesn’t sound like incompetence. Or at least, targeting a journalist for prosecution because he revealed your incompetence sounds like a step down a bad road.

The banality of evil / the evil of banality.

Re: Reporter may be prosecuted for using “view source”

#18

Post by Buttons840 »

> “If somebody picks your lock on your house — for whatever reason, it’s not a good lock, it’s a cheap lock or whatever problem you might have — they do not have the right to go into your house and take anything that belongs to you,” Parson said.

The reporter did the equivalent of noticing a lock was rusted through and barely hanging on. He poked the lock and it crumbled to pieces. He didn't take anything, he reported the problem to the government and later to the public. He didn't take the personal data just because his eyes saw it in passing.

If the reporter compiled a database of every teachers personal information, that's another thing. That's not what happened, the reporter looked at 3 teachers to establish the pattern and then reported it.

Re: Reporter may be prosecuted for using “view source”

#19

Post by plutonorm »

"Don't look up" I watched it on Netflix last night and I can't get over how well it captures the insanity we witness on a daily basis. It's not a funny movie, it's painful to watch, but that's because it's a reflection of reality. Sure its over blown and silly in places, but it resonates so strongly with the idiocy of our time... It's a test with high specificity: If you don't get the resonance then you are part of the problem.
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