No case against teens for Web site

[John Doe #2]

In this article, having a password controlling access to a site
is partially exculpatory, at least in one opinion.  Interesting.
Wonder how long/difficult to guess those passwords were?

[Cf recently lawsuit where boss sniffed employee's password to
employee's private site and boss was nailed under computer-break-in
laws]

.............

http://www.nyjournalnews.com/westchester/061401/14standdown/


No case against teens for Web site

                 By JONATHAN BANDLER
                 THE JOURNAL NEWS
                 (Original publication: June 14, 2001)

                 NEW CASTLE — Two Chappaqua high school seniors who were
arrested for
                 engineering a Web site detailing sexual exploits of
some female classmates will
                 not face criminal charges, Westchester District
Attorney Jeanine Pirro said
                 yesterday.

                 The two, one 18, the other 17, were to have appeared in
Town Court today on
                 charges of second-degree aggravated harassment.
Detectives arrested the pair
                 May 30 after learning of the Web site from Horace
Greeley High School
                 officials. The males were given summonses to appear in
court, but prosecutors
                 never filed formal charges.

                 Pirro said although some of the material on the Web
site was "offensive and
                 abhorrent, the content did not rise to the level of
criminal conduct."

                 "This is essentially the high-tech version of gossip,"
said Pirro, who added she
                 read all of the communications posted to the site. "I
am offended, I am repulsed
                 and I'm outraged as a mother. (But) this does not
violate the Penal Law."

                 The Web site — set up on Yahoo GeoCities and accessible
by password —
                 was shut down the day the two males were arrested.
Police said 16 Greeley
                 students had the password. As many as 40 girls — mostly
seniors — were listed
                 on the site, which included sexual acts they allegedly
performed.

                 Pirro said there was no crime because none of the girls
were sent any of the Web
                 pages, and the password meant the males kept the
information among
                 themselves.

                 Chappaqua schools Superintendent Donald Parker said he
wanted to put the
                 issue "behind us" because the district had taken
appropriate disciplinary action
                 against the males. He would not detail the discipline
but said the males will
                 graduate with their class later this month.

                 Mark Goodman, executive director of the Virginia-based
Student Press Law
                 Center, praised Pirro's decision.

                 "A rational prosecutor knows this is just not a case
that can be won," he said.
                 "Gossip like that is as old as human culture. I think
(the Web site) can be
                 destructive, but it can't be prosecuted criminally."

                 New Castle police refused to release the names of the
two males, citing a policy
                 of withholding the names of those 16 to 18 because they
could be eligible for
                 "youthful offender" status.

                 State law permits such records to be sealed only by a
judge who has received
                 the charges. Police records of the arrests are not
protected under the statute
                 dealing with youthful offenders.