This is not strictly a new argument for defending oneself against charges of hacking: a Romanian hacker claims he was doing a favour to the US Department of Energy, NASA and the Navy by highlighting vulnerabilities in their systems. He managed to escape a custodial sentence in Romania, let's see if that argument is also "heard" by US courts... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/11/us_navy_hack_sentencing/ Is there some room at Guantanamo Bay still ?