Executive Hacker Gets Wrist Slapped

"The president of a U.S. software company has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to stealing password-protected files from a competitor.

"Jay E. Leonard, 61, was sentenced to 12 months supervised probation and a US$2,500 fine after pleading guilty to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer, a misdemeanor charge.

"Leonard is the owner of Boulder, Colorado's Platte River Associates, a company that builds software used in petroleum exploration. He illegally accessed a password-protected area of the Web site belonging to his company's competitor Zetaware, according to a plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

"One week later, he chaired a company staff meeting in which 'a tentative plan was discussed to exploit and to unlawfully utilize the downloaded Zetaware files for the economic gain of Platte River Associates,' the plea agreement states."

From PCWorld...