I agree - two wrongs don't make a right - but a lot of horse theft was averted by lynch mobs. Unfortunately sometimes the wrong person was hung.

The anti-hacking laws I was referring to were written to help put a stop to PC hacking and to help protect national security. There are some sections of the law that might be useful, however.

"The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (as amended Oct. 3, 1996)
Section 1030. Fraud and related activity in connection with computers"

(a) Whoever--

--big snip--

"(4) knowingly and with intent to defraud, accesses a protected computer without authorization, or exceeds authorized access, and by means of such conduct furthers the intended fraud and obtains anything of value, unless the object of the fraud and the thing obtained consists only of the use of the computer and the value of such use is not more than $5,000 in any 1-year period;"

"(g) Any person who suffers damage or loss by reason of a violation of the section, may maintain a civil action against the violator to obtain compensatory damages and injunctive relief or other equitable relief. Damages for violations involving damage as defined in subsection (e)(8)(A) are limited to economic damages. No action may be brought under this subsection unless such action is begun within 2 years of the date of the act complained of or the date of the discovery of the damage."

For the full text see: http://www.rent-a-hacker.com/hacklaw.htm

Bert