by Playfuls Staff |
26th May 2006
MySpace.com, which is owned by News Corp, lets users make their own websites where they can place pictures and blogs creating networks of friends.[more]
Two teenagers from Long Island were taken into police custody face computer crime and extortion charges after they threatened to hack into the social networking site and stole personal information from MySpace users shake down the popular Web site.
A D-A's office spokeswoman says, after MySpace booted them from the site, the pair threatened to distribute a foolproof method for stealing information unless MySpace paid them 150-thousand dollars.
Shaun Harrison, 18, and Saverio Mondelli, 19 operated a Web site called myspaceplus.com from Medford, N.Y. Prosecutors said the two developed a computer code that enabled them to get personal information on users of MySpace.
Each was charged with two felony counts of illegal computer access and one count of sending a threatening letter for extortion and attempted extortion According to the District Attorney's Office, the defendants possibly will face more than four years in jail if convicted.
Mondelli and Harrison entered not guilty pleas at their arraignment Tuesday. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge set bail at $US35,000 and set a preliminary hearing for June 5.
