14 DAY TRIAL // A judge has dropped all the charges against a student accused of hacking after performing a silly prank before a college football game against his university's main rival.
Ryan Pickren, from Tampa, Florida, is a student at Georgia Tech University, where he's studying computer science, with an interest in cyber security.
While at home for Thanksgiving in 2014, spurned by stories of past pranks against University of Georgia, told by his grandfather, also a Georgia Tech graduate, he decided to stage his own.
College (American) football rivalries are just like soccer rivalries in Europe. Michigan hates Ohio State, UCLA hates USC, Auburn hates Alabama, Oklahoma hates Texas, and everybody hates the U (Miami Hurricanes). When it comes to Georgia, there's a fierce rivalry between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Georgia Tech's Yellow Jackets football teams.
Since the Bulldogs - Yellow Jackets game was supposed to be played during the Thanksgiving weekend, Pickren decided to play a prank, by modifying the University of Georgia's master calendar for campus events. By changing a few parameters in an HTTP POST request, Pickren was able to add a calendar entry for the game day that said "Get [expletive] Kicked By GT."
Pickren's prank went viral
Pickren and his grandfather got a laugh out of it, both thinking it was incredibly funny, but an ESPN reporter also got wind of what happened, and soon his prank was on the front page of many newspapers, and even Yahoo's Sports section.
University of Georgia officials didn't find it funny and notified the police, who issued a warrant for Pickren's arrest. The student didn't turn himself in just before Christmas and was indicted on charges of computer trespassing.
The maximum penalty for this crime was up to 15 years in prison, and a $15,000 fine. Fortunately for him, the District Attorney and the judge had a sense of humor, so instead of a trial, he got community service and was also told to write a letter of apology to the University of Georgia.
One year later, after Pickren lived up to the deal, all charges were dropped, and he can now continue his education in computer science at Georgia Tech, and even answer to the numerous security job offers he got after the incident went public.
You can read the whole story in Ryan Pickren's words below.