There is a difference (sometimes) between what some find unpalatable and what is illegal. Malicious prosecution for non crimes is not something I find palatable.
There were crimes involved here. They just just weren't worth the federal prosecutor's time to take to court.
What crime? I can't think of any laws broken. Certainly not the CFAA and it is legal to take pictures in public places.
It's not legal to install spyware (or anything, really) on computers you don't own.
It's probably not legal to install spyware on computers you do own without consent of the observed.
It would be nice if this were true.
Yeah I meant "consent" in the not-real-consent sense of a EULA.
No consent at all is required, by federal law. State laws may differ.
> maybe then his lawyers could have explained to him why what he did was wrong.
It sounds like his lawyers recognized that what he did was so obviously not illegal or with sufficient crimnal intent that they were sure the charges would be dropped. It certainly seems like a stretch to apply the CFAA to these actions, what other laws do you think applied?
Hi, OP here. Do I know you? Thanks for your thoughts :) I would hope that anyone evaluating this project today not look at it alone, but examine it as part of a much larger body of work I've made since around that time. By itself, it was a small gesture that got overblown. In context, I like to think that it has more to offer. In case anyone is curious, see on my website https://kylemcdonald.net/ "Facework", "Vibe Check", "ICESpy", "How We Act Together", "Sharing Faces", "us+", "FaceOSC" and "Face Substitution" (now people call it "face swapping").
Re:People Staring at Computers
by its-all-data on Monday July 12, 2021 @08:56PM
(#27816733)
Hey Zach, I would love to hear how your experience working at Palantir informs your reaction to this.
It’s also the low quality (imo) type of art that does a disservice to the rest. Like the blank canvas art hung in the SF MOMA, it’s the stuff you roll your eyes at and ignore.
A lot of the art at RPI was like that.
They should have prosecuted him, maybe then his lawyers could have explained to him why what he did was wrong.