People now "think of hackers as terrorists," he said, arguing that this fear had caused the government to give undeservedly harsh punishments to violators of computer fraud statutes.
Under federal law, if investors prove that Citigroup, J. P. Morgan Chase or other defendants were "knowing violators" of securities fraud laws, the banks would be liable for all the damages.
Stephen M. Shapiro, the lawyer representing the vendors, did not dispute the facts, but argued that at most, his clients had "aided and abetted" Charter's fraud and were not themselves primary violators of any securities law.
The computer fraud statute is extremely broad, violating the statute is not too difficult, and violators are either never detected or are not prosecuted because of lack of resources or other law enforcement priorities.
In the remaining weeks, the allies should press Mr. Karzai and other major political leaders to urge all Afghans to vote, to speak out against fraud and corruption and to pledge that violators will be punished.
In the absence of such legislation, prosecutors have often turned to related laws, like those pertaining to document fraud or illegal interstate commerce, to bring violators to justice and have settled for lighter sentences than they think the facts merit.
In any complex securities fraud, moreover, there are likely to be multiple violators; in this case, for example, respondents named four defendants as primary violators.
L. Rev. 1217, 1234-35 (1981); William K.S. Wang, Stock Market Insider Trading: Victims, Violators and Remedies—Including an Analogy to Fraud in the Sale of a Used Car with a Generic Defect, 45 Vill.
The crackdown on fraud also coincides with a controversial decision to have a partial amnesty for violators of tax laws, which the government hopes will raise 2.5 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in additional revenue.
Federal prosecutors have recommended that former Bell city manager Robert Rizzo go to prison for nearly three years when he is sentenced on tax fraud charges Monday, saying his conduct is "clearly more egregious than that of many other tax violators who do not hold public office and who do not steal public monies".
