[LINK] RFI: Access to Unprotected Data

[Adam Todd]

>I'm thinking about what the situation is if the data is *not* protected by 
>'an access control system'?
>
>For example, a person who makes data available may state that the data is 
>only available for a specific purpose, but not put anything in front of it 
>that would be interpreted by the courts as 'an access control system'.

I'll let you know shortly.  This is about to come up in the Supreme Court 
in a matter I'm in and the allegation will be that I hacked into the 
plaintiffs computers to get access to their financial records and computer 
files.

I'm looking forward to seeing how that one turns out :)

I'm not going to say anything or even elude to how I came into possession 
of the material, yet :)

>It appears that access to data unprotected by 'an access control system', 
>even if the access is for a reason other than the reason the data is made 
>available, is not a crime.

We'll know soon :)

>If anyone has any discomforts with the above analysis, or can point to 
>authoritative works, I'd appreciate your thoughts.  Off-list may be best, 
>unless the comments are likely to be of interest to list-subscribers.

Join me in the Supreme Court :)