[dmatech]

I'm not saying this happened here, but if a journalist engaged in hacking or fraud to obtain material to publish, that would be "journalism", but it would also be a crime (the research, not the publication). Obviously, the freedom of the press doesn't include the ability to do anything they want in pursuit of a story.

[jjk166]

No one is arguing that journalists are not bound by laws, the issue here is that not only is there no proof they broke any laws here, but even the idea that they might have is laughable, given that this was a public database they had permission to access. It's like accusing someone walking out of a public library with a book is a thief who stole the book.