MySpace Login Reset Isn’t Encryption Crime, Offense Requires Data Manipulation, Deletion

An individual who changed his ex-girlfriend’s MySpace password and then posted offensive content on the page is not guilty of the unlawful use of encryption offense in Illinois, the Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, held March 29 (State v. Kucharski, Ill. App. Ct., 2-12-0270, 3/29/13).

Justice Mary Seminara-Schostok, writing for the court, reversed the defendant’s conviction for the unlawful use of encryption in violation of 720 ILCS 5/16D-5.5(b)(1), holding that there was insufficient evidence to convict him. The statute’s definition of “encryption” is quite broad, but not broad enough to encompass the defendant’s changing of a ...