Expert: Chris Wagoner - 3/27/2008

Question
what are the state and federal laws of Illinois against hacking in to a personal e-mail and obtaining other e-mail addresses and personal documents? And what laws are broken if that person shares information to other people through the e-mails they obtained?

Answer
Hi Jehad,

You can find that under IL law in this section:

CRIMINAL OFFENSES
(720 ILCS 5/) Criminal Code of 1961.


     (720 ILCS 5/Art. 16D heading)
ARTICLE 16D.
COMPUTER CRIME


   (720 ILCS 5/16D‑1) (from Ch. 38, par. 16D‑1)
   Sec. 16D‑1. Short title. This Article shall be known and may be cited as the "Computer Crime Prevention Law".
(Source: P.A. 85‑926.)  

Copy and paste this whole thing in your browser to see the entire COmputer Crime STatute:
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=072000050HArt%2E+16D&ActI...


Your question falls under this:
720 ILCS 5/16D‑3) (from Ch. 38, par. 16D‑3)
   Sec. 16D‑3. Computer Tampering.
   (a) A person commits the offense of computer tampering when he knowingly and without the authorization of a computer's owner, as defined in Section 15‑2 of this Code, or in excess of the authority granted to him:
       (1) Accesses or causes to be accessed a computer or  
    any part thereof, a computer network, or a program or data;

       (2) Accesses or causes to be accessed a computer or  
    any part thereof, a computer network, or a program or data, and obtains data or services;

       (3) Accesses or causes to be accessed a computer or  
    any part thereof, a computer network, or a program or data, and damages or destroys the computer or alters, deletes or removes a computer program or data;

       (4) Inserts or attempts to insert a "program" into a  
    computer or computer program knowing or having reason to believe that such "program" contains information or commands that will or may damage or destroy that computer, or any other computer subsequently accessing or being accessed by that computer, or that will or may alter, delete or remove a computer program or data from that computer, or any other computer program or data in a computer subsequently accessing or being accessed by that computer, or that will or may cause loss to the users of that computer or the users of a computer which accesses or which is accessed by such "program";

       (5) Falsifies or forges electronic mail transmission  
    information or other routing information in any manner in connection with the transmission of unsolicited bulk electronic mail through or into the computer network of an electronic mail service provider or its subscribers;

   (a‑5) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to sell, give, or otherwise distribute or possess with the intent to sell, give, or distribute software which (1) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of facilitating or enabling the falsification of electronic mail transmission information or other routing information; (2) has only a limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to facilitate or enable the falsification of electronic mail transmission information or other routing information; or (3) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that person with that person's knowledge for use in facilitating or enabling the falsification of electronic mail transmission information or other routing information.
   (a‑10) For purposes of subsection (a), accessing a computer network is deemed to be with the authorization of a computer's owner if:
       (1) the owner authorizes patrons, customers, or  
    guests to access the computer network and the person accessing the computer network is an authorized patron, customer, or guest and complies with all terms or conditions for use of the computer network that are imposed by the owner; or

       (2) the owner authorizes the public to access the  
    computer network and the person accessing the computer network complies with all terms or conditions for use of the computer network that are imposed by the owner.  

   (b) Sentence.
       (1) A person who commits the offense of computer  
    tampering as set forth in subsection (a)(1), (a)(5), or (a‑5) of this Section shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.

       (2) A person who commits the offense of computer  
    tampering as set forth in subsection (a)(2) of this Section shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and a Class 4 felony for the second or subsequent offense.

       (3) A person who commits the offense of computer  
    tampering as set forth in subsection (a)(3) or subsection (a)(4) of this Section shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony and a Class 3 felony for the second or subsequent offense.

Hope this is what your looking for.

Stay Safe!