'weev' Conviction Vacated 148
An anonymous reader writes "A few years back, Andrew 'weev' Auernheimer went public with a security vulnerability that made the personal information of 140,000 iPad owners available on AT&T's website. He was later sentenced to 41 months in prison for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (or because the government didn't understand his actions, depending on your viewpoint). Now, the Third U.S. District Court of Appeals has vacated weev's conviction. Oddly, the reason for the ruling was not based on the merits of the case, but on the venue in which he was tried (PDF). From the ruling: 'Although this appeal raises a number of complex and novel issues that are of great public importance in our increasingly interconnected age, we find it necessary to reach only one that has been fundamental since our country's founding: venue. The proper place of colonial trials was so important to the founding generation that it was listed as a grievance in the Declaration of Independence.'"
Re:sad day for those who don't like 4chan trolls (Score:5, Insightful)
Not liking someone isn't a good enough reason to put them in jail.
Usually. For now.
Re:To the point... (Score:0, Insightful)
Not Odd At All (Score:5, Insightful)
"Oddly, the reason for the ruling was not based on the merits of the case, but on the venue in which he was tried (PDF)."
This isn't odd at all. If the venue was incorrect, then all the issues raised in the trial become irrelevant.
Think of it this way: if he'd been charged with "being a Mets fan," and the appeal was based on (a) there's no law against being a Mets fan, and (b) the evidence that he was a Mets fan (a cap) was obtained through an illegal search, then whether or not the search was illegal would be irrelevant - he had broken no law, so the "conviction" would be tossed out.
Comment removed (Score:2, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)