I don't see this mentioned anywhere but the HTML page the journalist visited is public so there's no CFAA/DMCA violation there. Once the HTML page (data) is cached by the journalist's browser, they're free to do anything they want with the data. The journalist ran "his hacker tools" against his own computer which is also not a crime.
Like others, I'm sad to see such a technically illiterate response when there should at least be advisors capable of explaining this. I also agree the journalist is unlikely to be convicted but we really don't need to muddy the fairly clear scope of computer crimes per the above laws.
Like others, I'm sad to see such a technically illiterate response when there should at least be advisors capable of explaining this. I also agree the journalist is unlikely to be convicted but we really don't need to muddy the fairly clear scope of computer crimes per the above laws.