Laws are written by legislators, not the Department of Justice. An administrative decision by the executive branch does not change that fact. Accessing a computer system without explicit authorization or "hacking" is a federal crime. If you "hack", you can be charged with a felony for doing so at the discretion of federal prosecutors. The law isn't some magical too-incomprehensible-for-mortals text requiring magicians and soothsayers to interpret _literally_ every single clause and statement for you. As an adult citizen of a country (with an IQ above room temperature), you should be able to correctly interpret statements like the above, as was done by the person to whom you replied.