[gen3]

Most stream fraud schemes like this use stolen accounts or accounts made with stolen credit cards.

As for what makes the botting illegal, in this case its theft through misrepresentation. He was charged with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/north-carolina-musician...

[ericjmorey]

This seems no worse than what Deutsche Ban and Wells Fargo have been caught doing. I think maybe his mistake was not doing this through corporate obfuscation at a large enough scale. Although Bankman-Fried and Madoff got punished with prison time, they threatened the wealthy with their fraud so steering clear of that has to be taken into account.

[johnnyanmac]

Pretty much. If you're a billion dollar CEO we called this an "oopsie". It's only a crime if another billion dollar CEO chooses to fight.