Computer Prank Could Result in Federal Prison Time

A reader of this blog, Jessica, asked me if I could share a link to a petition she set up in support of her boyfriend, Jason Miller. As the result of a dispute between two computer users, Jason is potentially facing federal prison time.

Jason is a data scientist (programmer) who joined a computer club after grad school. He explains what happened as follows... Jason picked a screen name another hacker didn't like and got his email hacked by him. To get the hacker back, Jason ended up slowing down his WiFi for 20 minutes a day on three days. The hacker called the FBI about it (without telling them he hacked Jason first), and Jason was arrested and charged with "accessing a protected computer network."

Jessica's petition asks President Obama to intervene on Jason's behalf. For more information, check out http://saveanerd.net.