[mark242]

"...or if you've gone and apologized to the network infrastructure guys for causing problems..."

Read the indictment. He started on Sep 25th. He was blocked by IP on Sep 25. He switched his IP on Sep 26. The entire netblock was then blocked by admins. To try to turn the service back on for normal users, admins tried to block his MAC address on Sep 27, which worked until he changed it on Oct 2, and then added a second machine on Oct 8.

Your "hypothetical" defense doesn't even come close to flying. This isn't a little misunderstanding; this is network admins blocking access, and being circumvented, multiple times.

[kragen]

Thanks, but I know what the indictment alleges. But the facts of the indictment may be false, and there may be many other highly relevant facts that are omitted.