Interesting part about Pinto considering himself a hacker or not:
> DER SPIEGEL: That makes it sound as though you might ultimately admit to hacking, after always telling us that you're not a hacker.
> Pinto: I fully accept that, from the standpoint of Portuguese law, some of my acts may be considered illegal and I will speak out on that. I maintain that many things that are mentioned were not illegally done. And I don't consider myself a hacker.
> DER SPIEGEL: What does hacking mean to you then?
> Pinto: To me, hacking means breaking into a system with brute force and exploiting it. I never did stuff like that.
> DER SPIEGEL: But the indictment says that hacking software was found on your laptop.
> Pinto: It's true but first of all, that computer was not only used by me. Second, just because the software is there doesn't mean that I actually used it. And third, the indictment never actually says that any of these programs were utilized to access data.
> DER SPIEGEL: You not only continually insisted that you weren't a hacker, but also that you weren't acting alone. Since your arrest, however, Football Leaks has gone silent. What happened to your supposed companions?
> Pinto: You have to be patient. It's true that I was the face of the project, but we'll see what happens in the near future.
Why and how is he having this conversation without his lawyer present regarding a case that is in pre-trial? Some of his comments are hardly in his favor and he and his lawyer would know that, no?
Portuguese law is very formal. What you say to prosecutors, or in court, carries a lot more weight than what you say outside the formal justice setting. This interview will certainly prompt questions from prosecutors, but as long as he can properly justify everything, as long as he didn't back himself into an impossible corner, he'll be ok.
> DER SPIEGEL: That makes it sound as though you might ultimately admit to hacking, after always telling us that you're not a hacker.
> Pinto: I fully accept that, from the standpoint of Portuguese law, some of my acts may be considered illegal and I will speak out on that. I maintain that many things that are mentioned were not illegally done. And I don't consider myself a hacker.
> DER SPIEGEL: What does hacking mean to you then?
> Pinto: To me, hacking means breaking into a system with brute force and exploiting it. I never did stuff like that.
> DER SPIEGEL: But the indictment says that hacking software was found on your laptop.
> Pinto: It's true but first of all, that computer was not only used by me. Second, just because the software is there doesn't mean that I actually used it. And third, the indictment never actually says that any of these programs were utilized to access data.
> DER SPIEGEL: You not only continually insisted that you weren't a hacker, but also that you weren't acting alone. Since your arrest, however, Football Leaks has gone silent. What happened to your supposed companions?
> Pinto: You have to be patient. It's true that I was the face of the project, but we'll see what happens in the near future.