Hacking the Law

I am surprised that The Times was taken in by the hackers (“Hackers Live by Own Code,” Nov. 19). They are lawbreakers, pure and simple, and should not be given sympathetic coverage. Their alleged rules of etiquette are weak rationalizations for their always unethical and usually illegal acts. I’ll bet The Times would run a different article if a reporter found me sitting in his bedroom with the excuse that I was just testing the security of his house, or saw me driving around in his car saying I was just exposing the weakness of the key system of the car. I see no difference between the hackers’ actions and the ones I have suggested.

Robert C. Holmes

Pasadena