Hacker News Reader

Generally if the person is important enough.

This is the only case I can think of where non-classified information leaks were prosecuted: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin_email_hack (There are probably more, but I can't imagine any would actually disprove my point.)

View on HN

This isn't solely about an information leak, though -- it's about willful destruction of property (i.e. all the victim's data getting vaped).

Usually the FBI is the agency that you go to with this stuff, and they usually don't help unless you can claim X hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. Basically, they only care about rich people and corporations. Hackers are given a blank cheque so long as they only do small amounts of financially quantifiable damage.

As with so many other things in the United States, it is de facto only a crime if it happens to someone rich or well-connected. Mr. Honan is probably on the bubble, there. If it happened to me, a no-namer with skimpy assets, the thought of the FBI getting involved would be a punchline.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com