High Ranking Officials at Risk to Internet Crimes

Posted on: October 28, 2008 at 10:21 a.m.

Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin

Tagged as: internet crimes defense

Comments:

Sesilya Leah Saraydarian on November 3, 2008 at 12:27 p.m. wrote:

In response to the question posed above, 'is it right or even worth it to punish a twenty-year old who is merely using these tools available to him, or wouldn't the law better serve to put restrictions on these companies and websites that sell individuals' personal and private information?' When personal feelings get involved in a matter/case like this, it would seem logical to punish the websites that allow this personal information to be sold to people like Kernell. But then that gives rise to another question - do we punish the Yellow Pages? Do we also punish 411? This question runs similar to a case of say, guns and gun manufacturers. Guns are made and sold for protection. But people still commit murders by shooting other people, to use the gun as it's not meant to be. Would it be fair to punish gun manufacturers for the actions of the murderer, just because they made the gun that was used? I do agree with the majority sentiment that what Kernell did was wrong. Leaking information of Sarah Palin and not expecting strict repercussions is (forgive me) a pretty dumb thing to do. I say that only he should be punished and I think that his sentence is appropriate. My only question remains: what was his justification for doing this in the first place?

Chelsea O'Carroll Comm 174 on November 3, 2008 at 1:58 a.m. wrote:

As can be seen in many court cases, people with more money have the ability to hire the best lawyers and therefore get the most favorable outcome in their cases. Although money and/or power dosen't always get a court participant the outcome they want, it can definently help. What I think is interesting in this case is that both sides have the money to influence this case they way they want it. Kernell, the defendant, has his high power political father on his side, while the victim is one of the most talked about people in America and possibly the next Vice President. I think this case will be an interesting one to watch because both sides have the power of influence. I also think this case will be groundbreaking because it could change the face of internet law. The outcome of this case could possibly put more restrictions on the ease of finding a person's personal information on the internet. Personally, I think this case shows the problems with the lack of security on the internet. The ability of criminals to get people's private information so easily has caused so many problems with identity theft. I hope this case will show law makers how important it is to create more security on the internet when it comes to private information.

Brittany Schoof Comm 174 on November 2, 2008 at 6:24 p.m. wrote:

This case does bring up some very interesting points. The first being the notion of celebrity trials, as the previous commenter mentioned. While this trial is unique in the sense that the celebrity is actually on the side of the prosecution instead of being the defendant, I think we might see a similar outcome in the sense that celebrity trials tend to get out of control and run away with the lawyers, because the judges don't exert their power enough. Also, the timing of this couldn't be worse for Palin. Not only is it right before the elections, but also it comes with the investigation of her firing Alaska's public safety commissioner. Add on top of this the fact that after the hacked emails went public, the account was deleted (which could be seen as destruction of evidence). Even if Palin was done wrong by these hackers, this does not bode well for her as it has come about in a time when she is under extremely high scrutiny. But what is more,this case shows just how powerful (and dangerous) the internet is. It is so easy to find out everything about someone just from the internet. I actually speak from experience when this summer I started receiving packages and letters from a stranger who was able to access information about me from what sports and activities I was involved in to even where I lived. There are so many websites where it is easy to purchase information about phone numbers, addresses, and I'm sure even social security numbers. So this brings the question, is it right or even worth it to punish a twenty year old who is merely using these tools available to him (as in the case of Mr. Kernell), or wouldn't the law better serve to put restrictions on these companies and websites that sell individuals' personal and private information?

Lillian Smith Comm 174 on November 2, 2008 at 6:01 p.m. wrote:

In responding to the above post, I agree that this situation will have major political repercussions for Mr. Kernell as well as Mrs. Palin, possibly even greater ones for Mr. Kernell. Because there is already so much attention on Sarah Palin, this little hacking incident is just another bump in the road for her. On the other hand, Mr. Kernell had no reason to have the spotlight cast upon him until now and it is likely that because of his son's illegal activity there will be many pressures cast upon him by media to either defend his son's actions or punish them in some way. Perhaps this unwanted attention will cause other illegal or frowned upon behaviors by Kernell or his family to surface, leading to his inability to be reelected.

Christine Paik Comm 174 on October 28, 2008 at 4:54 p.m. wrote:

There are a couple of interesting points that this case raises for me. In class we have discussed at length the issue of celebrity trials, but only when the celebrity is the defendant. What about when celebrities are the ones on the side of the prosecution? Are the defendants more likely to be prosecuted because jurors will be more sympathetic to such a public figure since they feel as though they already know them? (Though in the case of Mrs. Palin, especially in California, it may have the opposite effect...) Also, what other media discussion has there been on the fact that the defendant is the son of a Tennessee state representative? I feel as though this case will have political repurcussions not only for Mrs. Palin, but also Mr. Kernell. Lastly, what is especially striking about internet cases is the problem of jurisdiction. How can someone have control over the infinite domain of the Internet? Should there be, or rather, can there even be laws which limit what is available for public access online? Also, who should be held responsible for situations like this? Should the web-page provider or whoever else involved with the availability of the information, images, files, etc., be held responsible or should punishment be shared?

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