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Re:Teenager facing prison for downloading unsecured files fr... by PretzelPirate on Monday April 16, 2018 @09:07PM (#16854529)
When accessing a document on the web, you ask the server if you can have it. The server then says "yes" or "no" based on a set of rules. In this case, he asked and the server said "yes".

This is like going to a library, asking the librarian if you can check out a book, being told yes, and then later being arrested because they meant to say "no".

Re:Teenager facing prison for downloading unsecured files fr... by tantanel on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @05:36AM (#16856788)
Couldn’t the same analogy be used if I left my front door unlocked? The door would happily say: “yes, you may enter” to anyone trying the handle.

I think the real question here is: did the website provide enough information for the user to have been assumed to understand that what they were accessing wasn’t meant to be public (e.g. did the door look like a door to a private property)? And did the user cease to access the data once they understood it (e.g. did they close the door and leave)?

Re:Teenager facing prison for downloading unsecured files fr... by gnode on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @08:40AM (#16857716)
That analogy would be more accurate if you also operated a cafe out of your living room, with a big "open" sign on the front door, and someone accidentally used your personal bathroom because you failed to stick a "private" sign on it. In that case, it would be unreasonable to sue someone for trespass.
Re:Teenager facing prison for downloading unsecured files fr... by rootlocus on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @06:59AM (#16857181)
Web servers are not houses. They are implicitly public, whereas houses are implicitly private.
Re:Teenager facing prison for downloading unsecured files fr... by gitgud on Monday April 16, 2018 @11:22PM (#16855202)
Totally agree with this. If the web resource is available to anyone, then how could you be mad that some one saw it.