Teenager facing prison for downloading unsecured files from government website
This might be a controversial opinion here, but intent does matter. If I see a bunch of stuff sitting the sidewalk and I take some because I think it's free, that's a reasonable thing to do. But going into someone's house and taking their tv is not. <i>"It's their own fault for not locking the door"</i> isn't a valid legal defense, and I would prefer not to live in a country where victim-blaming becomes a get-out-of-jail-free card.<p>Based on what little I've read thus far, the teenager does indeed seem to have good intent. If that's the case, I'm cautiously optimistic that the court system will set him free without any consequences. But if the prosection can prove that he was aware of the data's confidentiality and was acting with malicious intent, then he deserves a conviction. Let's let the legal system run its course, before gathering our pitchforks.