>>Hacking into someone's account is a crime in the U.S. It is Identity theft... just look at the mass of case law here.

I'm as aware of the case law as anybody else around here. ;-) If you recall the student who hacked Sarah Palin's email: earlier this year he was found guilty of obstruction of justice (because he tried to cover his tracks to hamper the federal investigation) and unauthorized access to a computer, but not wire fraud or identity theft.

He's in trouble because obstruction of justice is a felony. The unlawful access is a misdemeanor.

In his case, a Vice-Presidential candidate's private communications were browsed and published online including personal phone numbers that were then used to harass Palin's family. That's pretty bad. Even so, he could have walked away without a felony conviction if not for the attempted obstruction.

This is of course my fault: all I wanted was to compliment the organizers, but chaos ensues. ;-) How about we both let it go?