There's lots more I have to say about this unethical hacker -- I believe he should be investigated as an accomplice to Snowden in undermining national security -- but let's start with this first.
Micah bragged that in order to get to visit Greenwald faster, he had to get around the long wait for a visa appointment -- Brazil has been in demand lately for the World Cup and conferences and tourism.
So he devised a hackery little script that scraped the site's appointment calendar form somehow, found when there was a cancellation, and then notified him so he could jump in and grab the space. Since the web site itself suggests that you can refresh the page and see if anything opened up, Micah rationalizes his hack
For those of you familiar with Bragg v. Linden, that was exactly his (failed) argument -- if the browser was "open" to his manipulations to jimmy it and force it to its $0 opening mode, then it was "lawful" because it was "presented the product to him in this way" and therefore he had the "right" to buy the land for nothing or some low amount, then flip it and re-sell it. (There was the secondary issue of whether then the company got to compensate his virtual property or not). His arguments in favour of legalizing jimmying browsers with scripts didn't fly.
Weev used the same argument with AT&T -- he jimmied AT&T's website with what he claimed was "math in the browser" but which was really a covercive, rapidly repeating script that savaged the site to make it turn over all its customer's emails one by one based on generation of serial numbers -- the system admitted customers who had bought products to plug in the serial number and activate the product, so Weev simply had the script generate numbers in sequences to unlawfully access the site in ways not intended by the owner -- that's "unauthorized" -- and thereby grabbed all the customers' emails, some private of famous people.
This "rape culture" logic of hackers is common -- "she was wearing a short skirt so I get to rape her". Some of these nerds now have been trained enough to know they can't have that attitude toward women now; but they still have it toward other people's computer networks.
The argument was not accepted and Weev was sentenced. The only reason he is out is because a separate issue of venue which is going to be appealed and likely he'll go back in.
This "if I can do it it must be legal" -- is exactly the sort of bullshit warped thinking that hackers always try to put over us - it's hacking meaning and language first, before it hacks law. So I challenge it.
Yes, it's a hack, and not "legal" as Mashable self-servingly claims because it is using the site in ways that were not intended by the owner of the site.
Dear Sir or Madame,
Perhaps you have seen this article that makes a disturbing claim about unauthorized access to your website in order to get ahead of the long lines for a visa appointment:
http://mashable.com/2014/05/27/micah-lee-greenwald-snowden/
Here is the relevant excerpt:
"Once hired, Lee needed to travel to Brazil immediately. First Look has an office in New York City, but Greenwald works from his house located in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
Unfortunately, the consulate in San Francisco near where Lee lives didn't have an open spot for a visa appointment. It would be at least two months before he'd be able to leave for Brazil.
Undeterred, Lee created a smart (and legal) hack — a script that constantly scraped the consulate's visa calendar to check for cancellations. If it found any, it would text Lee, giving him the opportunity to hop online and book.
In less than 48 hours, he scored an appointment and flew to Rio within days"
I would appreciate getting an answer from you on this matter.
On your website, you state:
http://saofrancisco.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/News.xml
"Another way of trying to schedule your appontiment on an earlier date is by accessing the online appointment system every night, because there are people who cancel their appointments and their respective slots become vacant. This is a continuous process and if you keep trying you may find available slots earlier in time."
However, it does not say that people can devise scripts and coercively access your site repeatedly and rapidly over time in order to game the system and jump ahead of the queue. That isn't fair or lawful.
Therefore, I would appreciate hearing your position on the question of the actual legality of this hack used on your site -- and it is a hack because it is using it in an unintended way.
thanks for your attention,
Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
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