Coincidentally, two college students made headlines in yesterday's Washington Post for (alleged) cybercrimes.
The Austin story:
Texas Attorney Gen. Sues Student Spammer
Washington Post (The Associated Press)
Friday, January 14, 2005
AUSTIN, Texas -- The state attorney general filed a lawsuit against a 22-year-old college student and his business partner, accusing them of illegally sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited, misleading e-mails.
Ryan Pitylak, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, heads the fourth-largest spamming operation in the world, Attorney General Gregg Abbott said.
According to Travis County tax records, Pitylak owns a $450,000 home in an upscale Austin neighborhood. A woman who answered the door said Pitylak was out of town on business and would not be answering phone calls. Pitylak did return an e-mail, referring all questions to his attorney.
The Boston story (OK, OK, Cambridge):
Teen Web Editor Drives Apple to Court Action
Washington Post
Friday, January 14, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Nicholas M. Ciarelli was not even old enough to shave when he started getting under Apple Computer Inc.'s skin.
As a 13-year-old middle-schooler, the New Woodstock, N.Y., native built a Web site in 1998 and began publishing insider news and rumors about Apple, using the alias Nick dePlume.
Sites like his "are good for Apple," says Harvard student Nicholas Ciarelli.
Three years later, ThinkSecret.com was first to report that the company would debut a G4 version of the PowerBook laptop series. The product launched soon thereafter, along with ThinkSecret's reputation among Apple's legendarily zealous fans, generating millions of page views per month.
But after a series of letters warning the Web site to stop publishing proprietary information, Apple decided enough was enough. When Ciarelli scored yet another scoop in late December, by predicting the arrival of a new software package and a sub-$500 computer rolled out at this week's MacWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, the computer maker filed a lawsuit accusing him of illegally misappropriating trade secrets.
Considering the recent billion-dollar judgment against another spammer, Ryan Pitylak might start worrying about that $450,000 house. Nicholas Ciarelli, on the other hand, has a collection of bylines at the Harvard Crimson, and the Apple lawsuit raises significant free-speech and free-press issues. Win or lose, the case will be on his résumé.
Steve
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