

We Should All Step Back from Security Journalism - knowtheory
https://medium.com/message/we-should-all-step-back-from-security-journalism-e474cd67e2fa

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snowwrestler
I don't see much of a legal framework in this post, which is a shame because
it is about a legal topic.

For example the Pentagon Papers decision set precedent that reporters and
editors can work with and publish information that would normally be illegal--
in that case because it was classified--in the interest of informing the
public. Examining a file of credit cards to see if it was from an authentic
hack, in the course of reporting that hack, would seem to pretty obviously be
in the public interest. People benefit from knowing when their data has been
stolen.

Motive matters in criminal prosecutions. A reporter examining a file of stolen
data in order to accurately report on it has very different motives from the
original hackers who stole the data, or someone looking to sell it.

Barrett Brown worked as a journalist, but the actions for which he was
convicted went outside the typical bounds of journalism. I question whether
his conviction means much for reporters who stay in those bounds.

