The court has struggled over the issue of allowing the copying of the hard drive. This is a serious invasion of privacy and is certainly not a standard remedy… The tipping point for the court comes from evidence that the defendants – in their own words – are hackers. By labeling themselves this way, they have essentially announced that they have the necessary computer skills and intent to simultaneously release the code publicly and conceal their role in that act. And concealment likely involves the destruction of evidence on the hard drive of Thuen’s computer. For these reasons, the court finds this is one of the very rare cases that justifies seizure and copying of the hard drive.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/23/hacker_loses_4th_amendment_rights_case/

The italics are mine. The definition of a hacker runs more into using things for a purpose they were not originally intended for. This destructive interpretation on the word by the US courts is worrying, because it blankets a huge grouo of people who are furthering technical innovation all over the world.

Given the US track record of handling people they don’t grant rights to, is this the start of an anti-intellectuals pogrom?