A Hacker by Any Other Name Might Have Escaped Data Seizure:
An Idaho court's order to seize the computer of a self-described "hacker" did not result from mere confusion over the meaning of the word, though it's clear the judge based his ruling on stereotypes. With claims of national security being involved, "the judge likely was not going to take chances, albeit noting that this was an exceptional case," said tech attorney Ray Van Dyke.
The United States District Court for the District of Idaho has ordered the seizure of data from the computers of white hat hacking firm South Fork Security in response to a lawsuit brought by Battelle.
Battelle alleges Southfork's cofounder, Corey Thuen, copied an application called "Sophia" that he helped develop while working at Battelle, and then planned to sell it as an open source product.
The lawsuit makes eight claims against Thuen and Southfork, including copyright infringement, tortious interference with prospective economic advantage, and trade secret misappropriation.
"Three of our corporate hard drives were imaged, and the data is being held by the court," Thuen told TechNewsWorld. "No analysis of the drives is permitted at this time."
Southfork, which is a startup, "has many disadvantages in this case but we intend to fight vigorously because we have the most important advantage: Truth," Thuen vowed.
Sophia was developed at the Idaho National Laboratory, which is managed by Battelle.
The Good Side of Hacking
"Many legitimate computer security researchers test the security of systems in order to make that security better -- an activity that many would describe as hacking," Joseph Gratz, an adjunct professor of law at UC Hastings College of the Law, told TechNewsWorld.
"That kind of hacking is the best way to make all of us safer as users of computer networks," Gratz pointed out.
Still, hacking "is nearly synonymous" with activities such as stealing code," Van Dyke told TechNewsWorld, and with claims of national security being involved, "the judge likely was not going to take chances, albeit noting that this was an exceptional case."
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