The shock and awe of the situation was overwhelming. Almost on the scale of a WMD.

FTFY. :)

You're apocalypse sounds better, and possibly more likely, than some others on here. It's much more likely than the evaporating magnets and technology. :)

I think the first AC below is right. Without a good support structure, including people to defend you, you most likely won't survive the first few weeks. I'm fairly sure you're not the only person around (or even on here) that can identify and replace a bad cap. :)

It's ok though, if you make it to our compound, you'd be welcome and protected. You'd better know more than just swapping electronic components though. Everyone is a soldier first, and their specialty second. You won't do us much good dead.

A lot of us build from our parents work. Some of it we don't, because technology caught up sufficiently to the mainstream. Like, before my father tired, he was working on bleeding edge work with lasers and thermal imaging.

I don't need a ruby rod and flashtube to fire a laser, at some huge gov't expense, and $10,000 (if I remember right) for an infrared thermometer. Now I can get a $20 that does both.

He quite literally had a truck filled with gear that was cooled by liquid nitrogen, to do thermal imaging. I believe the truck was the cheapest component. Instead, I can spend $2,500 for a handheld camera that does much better quality imaging.

There are some things that really don't change much. I do my own work around the house. I work on my own cars. I've built electronics. Some techniques I learned from him. Some I've improved on. If he was still alive, I believe he would be impressed.

Is that before or after disassembling stuff? :)

And for some things, you don't even need the magnets. There are plenty of cars out there with self-exciting alternators. All you need is something to spin the pulley.

I think in his universe, all the magnets, tools, vehicles, and stores simply disappeared.

Correct, but if you're skilled with electrical gear, you can make electricity.

A car alternator, belt, pulley, a bit of wood, and a running river, can give you constant power.

That power can run our soldering iron, refrigerator/freezer, or other useful things.

The guy who knows all the in's and out's on a car, can give you reliable transportation. In the case of the recent walking dead episodes, he can give you a way to drive down the tracks quickly, rather than walking for days. (Hint: a Chevy S10 has the correct distance between wheels to sit on the rails)

A big enough mini power plant can run arc welders. Building foot thick steel reinforced concrete walls is better than hiding in almost any house.

And for the record, I'm a long-term IT guy. I also have experience in electronics, refrigeration and HVAC, automotive work, firearms handling, and farming. I'm also spoken for. My friends and family already know where to meet up if there happens to be an apocalypse. They have the written plans and maps. If an apocalypse happened, we'd be set back up and having LAN parties within a few weeks. :)

You're overlooking the part about purposefully manipulating the query in such a fashion as to trick the webserver into thinking you're someone else.

AT&T's mistakes do not excuse the actions of the accused.

There's no overly broad precedent here, unless you're trying to claim that prosecuting people for impersonation is a scary precedent.

How is the law being abused here? Go read the evidence in this case. AT&T set up a system that was designed to automatically populate an e-mail field for the convenience of their customers. They did this by matching two different variables, the user-agent of the iPad web browser and the ICC-ID number from the SIM card contained therein. Two people then discovered that they could fake both of those variables to obtain the personally identifiable information (PII) of AT&T customers. They did this in a deliberate manner while discussing ways of using the obtained information for profit, with ideas ranging from spamming (direct marketing ofiPad accessories to people who obviously owned iPads) to securities fraud (they floated the idea of shorting AT&T's stock when news of the security breech broke) to the enhancement of their own reputation (look how awesome of a security guy I am, I broke into AT&T, buy my consulting services!)

AT&T's failings are not really relevant here. The process of obtaining the PII was sufficiently complicated as to make it readily apparent that the information obtained was not for public consumption. No reasonable person would conclude that they were entitled to access the PII of AT&T's customers. No reasonable person would discover this security flaw then write a script to automate the collection process while exploring methods of using the obtained information for personal financial gain.

Your whole argument can be distilled to three words: Blame the victim.

That's some selective quoting right there, chopping it off at "or any overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy in New Jersey". They didn't conclude that he didn't commit the crime, they concluded that no actions taken in furtherance of the offense were performed in New Jersey.

It was keyed to only populate the e-mail field when both of the following were present: The user-agent of an iPad's web browser and a valid ICC-ID code belonging to an AT&T customer. They used these two items of information to impersonate AT&T customers and steal their personally identifiable information. Of course, your point is irrelevant either way, because the law doesn't care about "authorization process", it only cares that you accessed information you were not authorized to access. No reasonable person would conclude that they were authorized to access PII under these circumstances, wherein they had to trick AT&T's server into thinking they were somewhere else to obtain the information.

If this goes to trial again he will be convicted. If he has half a brain he'll cut a plea deal with the US Attorney, save everybody the hassle of another trial, and likely walk away with time already served. Frankly I doubt he'll do that, because he strikes me as exceedingly arrogant, but perhaps he's humbled after some time behind bars.

You should familiarize yourself with the term "personally identifiable information"

A better analogy would be calling AT&T and saying "I'm Bob, can you tell me when my bill is due?" You've impersonated Bob and used it to obtain access to personally identifiable information, you'd be guilty of a number of different crimes in such a circumstance.

My understanding is it wound up New Jersey simply because the Federal authorities there have more experience with these types of cases. However it happened, I'd concur that it was improper venue. The Feds should have charged him in his own Federal District at the very least, though I'd go further than that and argue that the body of evidence should have been turned over to the authorities in Arkansas for a state level prosecution. Either way, he was entitled to be tried in the jurisdiction where the law was broken, not trucked halfway across the country for the convenience of Uncle Sam.

Venue was improper. That doesn't mean he isn't guilty, it just means the Federal Government was inept (shocker, I know) and has managed to turn a common criminal into a martyr because they were too stubborn to simply turn this matter over to the authorities in his home state. I suspect the Feds will just prosecute him again in his home Federal District, wherein he will be convicted, though if they were smart they'd let the State authorities handle this matter. AR has a non-controversial computer trespass law that would cover his actions here.

And you'd be wrong. You're looking at this from the geek perspective, rather than the legal perspective. Google the reasonable person standard and mens rea, those are two of the most important building blocks of our legal system. Bottom line: He knowingly accessed information that a reasonable person would have known they weren't entitled to access. He did so by tricking AT&T's servers into thinking he was someone other than himself. The icing on the cake were his own words entered into evidence, wherein he admitted that he knew he wasn't entitled to access the information.

Don't take my word for any of this, go read the body of evidence against him. It's all publicly accessible via PACER.

The amount of money they offer for a reward only has to be high enough to make it worthwhile for someone who has information to come forward. The amount of money they lost in the attack is really irrelevant. It's not like they'll get that money back if there's a conviction.

He's still guilty of violating CFAA. They just tied it to another State level offense to enhance the underlying charge into a felony. They could have done that with any underlying state law though, so it's kind of moot whether or not he violated the NJ law. He's also guilty of violating Arkansas' computer trespass law, emphasis mine:

A person commits computer trespass if the person intentionally and without authorization accesses, alters, deletes, damages, destroys, or disrupts any computer, computer system, computer network, computer program, or data.

Had he been charged under that statute I highly doubt this would have become a national news story. This really shouldn't have become a Federal case, and if the Feds were hell bent on taking it they should have charged him in his home district. Carting him halfway across the country was a dick move, done purely for the convenience of the Federal Government, and it's made a martyr out of a common criminal that nobody would ever have heard of if this matter had been handled at the State level.