I went and had a quick look and I think you are over-stating the situation. 1030 appears to deal with either going around authorisations for USG computers (a)(3), or going around authorisations for other computers (a)(4) in order to commit what would be in other settings ordinary crimes and misdemeanours: intentional damage (5)(A), reckless damage (5)(B), damage and loss (5)(C) and various species of fraud (6),(7).
I'm pretty sure Flattr's actions qualify for zero of these.
I'm pretty sure Flattr's actions qualify for zero of these.
(IANAL, TINLA).