Comment by fluoridation
4 hours ago
>Because you're POSTing them to a server?
How does that change anything? The HTTP protocol is just how I communicate with the program, just like how the USB protocol is how I communicate with the word processor. The dividing line is when the message crosses computer boundaries? Then it should also be illegal to write "I am an FBI agent" in a text file and upload it to Github.
>The same way you can't type everything into Google.
Who says you can't, physically or legally? Maybe Google will refuse to fulfill some search requests, but that's a different matter from it being illegal.
Intention is very relevant to legal interpretations of "unauthorized access"; both the intentions of the owner, and the intentions of the "intruder". See for example United States v. Auernheimer. There's relatively well-established precedent that when a service tries to safeguard some information, that information is legally protected no matter how technically feeble the attempt at safeguarding it was.
>Then it should also be illegal to write "I am an FBI agent" in a text file and upload it to Github.
i think it may affect how people would communicate with you there. And based on that it would seem like impersonation, wouldn't it?
May it? untitled.txt with the content "I am an FBI agent" and no further context could lead a human to think the author is stating they are an FBI agent? Okay, sure. Then let's go a step further. The repository is private and you never share it with anyone. At that point, the sentence is just as visible as when you type it into Google's search box or into a chatbot's window. Is that impersonation too?
If Google provides you with different search results, some results that are intended for law enforcement only... Granted, extremely bad security, yet that argument didn't prevent say credit card fraud convictions.