The lesson learned here is to not get involved and mind your own business.

[url]www.rense.com/general12/pub.htm[/url]

FBI Treats 'Good Samaritan' As Public Enemy                                          

By John Leyden The Register - London
                                                                          8-21-1
                                               A 'Good Samaritan' who alerted a firm about a serious security flaw on
                                            their Web site has become the subject of a criminal investigation.
                                             
                                            Linuxfreak reports that Brian West, a 24-year-old support worker with
                                            Oklahoma-based ISP Cwis, came across a security problem with the
                                            Poteau Daily News Web site during the course of helping a colleague
                                            prepare an ad for the site.
                                             
                                            While using Microsoft FrontPage, West discovered the site required no
                                            authentication to edit any file on its servers. Naturally concerned, he
                                            contacted the newspaper.
                                             
                                            However, instead of thanking West for his help, the editor-in-chief of the
                                            paper, Wally Burchett, decided to tape West's explanation of the problem
                                            and report him to the police.
                                             
                                            That's when the Feds got involved. While officers posing as potential
                                            customers visited West's offices, others, pretending to be Poteau Daily
                                            News employees, got him to run through the security problem on the
                                            paper's server.
                                             
                                            As soon as he did that another FBI agent arrived on the scene and served
                                            a warrant on the understandably shocked West, who neither damaged or
                                            defaced the site, Linuxfreak reports. Of course, we haven't heard the
                                            other side of the story here, but it all seems very fishy to us.
                                             
                                            West troubles began in February 2000 but the case against him continues
                                            to grind on.
                                             
                                            The FBI wants him to accept a felony conviction and five years'
                                            probation. West continues to maintain his innocence. He is trying to raise
                                            funds to pay for a lawyer in preparation Grand Jury hearing on 5
                                            September. ®

No good deed goes unpunished.

Now we have to start punishing the Feds who are doing these things.

Time to feed the hogs?