Why I Believe David Kernell Should Not Be Put In Jail

Amit Chowdhry | Wednesday October 8, 2008 | 311 Views |
Categorized under Yahoo!


David Kernell showed up in court this morning and pleaded not guilty to the charge of “violation of the laws of the United States, including 18 U.S.C. Section 2701 and 18 U.S.C. Section 1030(a)(2), intentionally and without authorization accessed a protected computer by means of an interstate communication and thereby obtain information, and did aid and abet in same.”

Kernell is the 20 year old son of Tennessee Democrat state legislator, which makes the case even more glamorous.  Did Kernell intend to do any harm to Governor Sarah Palin?  Highly unlikely.  Kernell just wanted to make a point that Yahoo!’s e-mail system is not very secure and that government business should be conducted through secure means.  Before Kernell even posted the pictures and screenshots on 4chan, he made sure that there wasn’t anything incriminating.

Who belongs in jail?  I strongly believe that the only people who should be jailed are those who have caused malicious physical or mental harm to another individual.  Based on what I’ve seen, Gov. Palin seems to be unaffected by this whole situation.  She seems to be too busy causing her rally of supporters to yell out “kill him” in reference to Obama. 

Kernell does not deserve to be put in jail.  I believe that Palin should become more responsible and Yahoo! should make their e-mail more secure.  When hackers penetrate bank websites and networks, they get hired as consultants.  Kernell should be charged with a punishment that is more meaningful such as: if he interferes with any more government business on the Internet, he will go to jail for a much more longer term than the maximum time. 



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Comments

  1. Emi
    October 10th, 2008 at 8:32 am

    Yeah… I’m sure that’s all he meant to do… It’s a statement on Yahoo’s security. Much like Watergate was merely to demonstrate the lack of integrity of the door locks on the DNC headquarters. Wonder how you’d feel if it were Obama’s email that had been hacked and spread across the internet for the world to scrutinize? Better yet- how would you feel if it were you that it happened to? I could give a damn who the person being hacked is- it’s wrong, it’s an invasion of privacy, and HELLO- he’s the son of a politician (a Democrat, no less). OBVIOUSLY this is politically motivated. Come on- it’s not as if her password was ‘password’ or ‘abcdefg’- this was clearly nothing to do with how responsible or irresponsible Palin was about her email. Think about how you would feel if you were in her shoes. And then quit crying foul because some sniveling little brat son of a politician got caught doing something illegal. You know if this was Bristol Palin doing this to Joe Biden you’d be ready to string her pregnant butt up by her toenails. I’m voting for NEITHER of the main parties. I am sick of this whiny mudslinging bull that’s been going on this whole time. But that doesn’t mean that I think it’s okay to violate someone’s rights.

  2. Amit Chowdhry
    October 10th, 2008 at 10:18 am

    Obama does not conduct government business on a Yahoo! account. He probably uses a secure network connection for his e-mail.

    If David Kernell did not hack her e-mail, somebody else would have. Kernell explained how easy it was. I’m just glad that he exposed the vulnerabilities now. If he had done it when or if Sarah Palin was ever President, then that would make her look even more irresponsible.

  3. Emi
    October 10th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    And anyone that hacked it SHOULD be punished. No matter WHO they hacked or WHY they hacked it. If he was ‘exposing vulnerabilities’ of Yahoo- don’t you think he would have just had one of his friends sign up for an account on Yahoo- sent a few emails back and forth, then hacked into it with his buddy’s blessing? No. This is NOT about Yahoo or ‘responsibility of Sarah Palin’. This is about the invasion of someone’s privacy. That’s like saying it’s okay to peek in someone’s window just because they have blinds instead of black-out drapes @@.

  4. Amit Chowdhry
    October 10th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    Had this been anyone elses’ e-mail account, the media wouldn’t care at all. The FBI wouldn’t even consider putting this guy behind bars if it was a Joe Schmoe. The owner of the account would be told not to make such obvious mistakes when choosing security questions for their e-mail password.

    This is not what you call justice. This is what you call playing with a kids life because the media glamorized the event. This lady could be President and the hacker is the son of a Democratic legislator.

    Think about it… 5 years. Do you know how much this kid can accomplish in 5 years. One of his professors admitted that the kid was brilliant. He was an econ major and we all know how much the world needs brilliant economists right now.

  5. Emi
    October 10th, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    I am quite certain daddy’s money will make up for old sonny-boy’s ‘lost youth’. That is if he even gets actual TIME out of it, since daddy is throwing money at lawyers to keep that from happening anyway. He’s a big boy. He knew better than to do it, but he did it anyway! He’s a spoiled brat who did something thinking he wouldn’t get caught or punished. We are full-up on those. It’s time these privileged children of politicians and other people in the spotlight started having to pay for their crimes. And yes- even if it were some random soccer mom from Kansas’s email they had posted on a website- YES, then he could be punished still! Had it been some random person- they could have construed it as identity theft or harassment. Plain and simple.

  6. Judge Rules Sarah Palin’s Yahoo! E-mails Must Be Preserved While David Kernell Receives Indictment
    October 12th, 2008 at 10:28 pm

    [...] past week, David Kernell was indicted with a charge for accessing Sarah Palin’s protected computer by means of an interstate [...]

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