Palingate Hacker Has Rough Day In Court
Well, you can chalk one up for Sarah Palin. This one required relatively little of her involvement. No convention. No book tour.
The young man responsible for hacking into her Yahoo account in 2008 was convicted of obstruction of justice and misdemeanor computer intrusion…with the courts dropping the felony wire fraud charge.
The obstruction of justice charge was a felony, however.
This should be a lesson to everyone: even though you can guess what Obama’s favorite baseball team is on Gmail or Hotmail…don’t try hacking into Obama4President – it could land you in a world of hurt.
After University of Tennessee student David Kernell, used common information to gain access to her account, and change her password to popcorn, he proceeded to post screenshots of her e-mail on various forums – with sites like Gawker still hosting them.
Here’s what I don’t understand – and I don’t want to make this too political. But, how do you compare a college student changing your password to “popcorn” by answering a public question about you, to Watergate…Palin managed to in this statement.
My family and I are thankful that the jury thoroughly and carefully weighed the evidence and issued a just verdict. Besides the obvious invasion of privacy and security concerns surrounding this issue, many of us are concerned about the integrity of our country’s political elections. America’s elections depend upon fair competition. Violating the law, or simply invading someone’s privacy for political gain, has long been repugnant to Americans’ sense of fair play. As Watergate taught us, we rightfully reject illegally breaking into candidates’ private communications for political intrigue in an attempt to derail an election.
I want to thank the public servants who worked so hard on this case, particularly the jurors who gave up precious time from their jobs and families to listen to the evidence and reach a decision.
My family and I appreciate the good people of Knoxville, Tennessee, who showed us true Southern hospitality. We can’t wait to visit again – but without having a subpoena in hand.
I know staffers and PR specialists have to do something…but writing a book about something rather trivial seems a little like overkill.
Ok. Enough of that.
I have no beef with Palin – just found this situation a little odd.
Kernell is is currently out on bond is waiting sentencing scheduled in the next few weeks.
Hopefully someone who obviously had too much free time on their hands will get a second chance at life.
Good luck
