Guessing few will make it to the end of the article, but was shocked to read the above, since the victim literally provided statements and evidence of them committing a federal offense.
Guessing few will make it to the end of the article, but was shocked to read the above, since the victim literally provided statements and evidence of them committing a federal offense.
She shouldn't have done it, one. Two, she should have never told the author that she did, and three he shouldn't have published that part of the account.
Federal sentences are almost entirely in the hands of the judge, except in the case of statutory minimum sentences. While there are Federal Sentencing Guidelines, they are not mandatory, and judges may depart from them in either direction within the range set for each offense.
Heck, even in a federal plea bargain, the parties don't usually (can't, IIRC) include a sentence; they can include an agreement on how to apply the guidelines factor and a joint recommendation to the judge on whether to depart (presumably downward) from the guidelines, but the judge still sets the sentence.
Seems like its one of those things that's technically illegal, but is unlikely to draw any actual legal action unless done in the service of some more serious offense.
(plus, I'm pretty sure fraud requires an intent to deceive. Given that the woman told a journalist what she was up to, it seems it would be hard to prove that she was trying to make people think she was actually the owner of the facebook account.)
If Alice were to go after Bob for logging in with credentials to an account she created, things seem pretty simple. But it seems difficult for Facebook to determine whether Alice and Bob are ok with a shared account or not. And even more so for the government to determine if it's ok for Bob to use those credentials.
> "You will not share your password (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account."
Anyway if you're not lucky enough to have friends and customers physically nearby, social media could be your only connection to close friends or critical business contacts. Messing with that could really make someone's life difficult.
The CFAA is terrifyingly broad, and this isn't even a tenuous application of it. Accessing and using someone else's account without their knowledge or permission is a clear violation regardless of who they are or what you do.
Posting "I forgot to log out!" on someone else's account is probably a criminal offense. Posting a picture injurious to their career and reputation clearly violates multiple sections of the CFAA.
Prosecutorial discretion is the only thing rescuing this situation; literally any internet operation on an account that isn't yours is arguably a criminal violation.
If someone gave me access then I'm allowed but am I committing fraud?
I agree that a suit or damages would be unlikely, but that's only at the discretion of judges; the basic CFAA violation here is unambiguous.