Why the fuck is the FBI wasting money on Palin's email account?

Sorry, her YAHOO account? The one that anyone can get and breaking into is no big deal and probably not even a crime.

:dem:

Electronic Frontier Foundation contributor Kurt Opsahl offeres
his legal analysis in

"DOJ View on Email Privacy May Hamper Prosecution of Palin Hackers"

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/09/doj-view-email-privacy-may-hamper-prosecution-pali


(someone with more posts than I may want to post it more prominently)

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2008/09/18/double_standards/

Equal Rights Or Double Standards

So tell us, why is the theft of Sarah Palin’s e-mail a crime and an investigation immediately commenced while the theft of the newspaper’s e-mail and files ignored?

There have been substantiated hackings of The North Country Gazette website with NCG actually being able to take screenshots of the hacking in progress. However, neither Brown nor the FBI have requested to review that information.

Brown and the State Police have been aware of the identity of one cyberstalker for over two years and to date, still have not made an arrest and have, in effect, encouraged and allowed the harassment and stalking to continue and escalate. One excuse is that the individual was out of state. Isn’t that why there are federal law enforcement agencies? Why wasn’t the State Police of the other state contacted by Brown and the State Police?

As a result of the State Police failing to arrest the known individual, the harassment and intrusions have increased. On June 3, NCG received a message threatening to use a bomb to blow up the publisher’s residence. The sender was traced through Verizon. The State Police failed to arrest the individual although his identity was confirmed through criminal subpoena. Death threats have been received from the same individual. The State Police have failed to effect an arrest.

Just like everything else, they try to deflect from the issue and play the victim. While I don't condone hacking someones e-mail and certainly not in this case (I wish it could have come out in a more straightforward manner), the person/s who did this may have essentially opened up a whole lot of scrutiny on Palin and her subversion of the law by using these public and unsecured e-mail for government business. People are talking about it and it brings her unprofessional and reckless behavior back into the spotlight. She will get sympathy from some, but others and certainly anyone who uses a computer and isn't a right-wing fascist will scratch their heads and say "what the hell was she doing?". This opens more questions and more scrutiny on her in the process - that may lead to the release of these e-mails and further investigation.

Folks, they are screaming about this for a reason and its far beyond their desire to distract people from the real issues. These hackers may have done some stupid but it has the potential to become more than just a prank - it could be considered a form of political activism when the media and the government are powerless to stop tyranny.

Besides, the DOJ has backed themselves into a corner by their own crazy privacy laws and issues regarding electronic data. This is just a waste of money and a giant distraction.