Government "Outs" Mystery Retailers in Gonzalez Hack Case

Interesting post in today’s Wired: Threat Level blog about a motion in the Alberto Gonzalez hacking case that was unsealed on Monday. We now have the identities of the other two “mystery” retailers – J.C. Penney was “Company A” and Wet Seal was “Company B.”

J.C. Penney argued unsuccessfully last week to keep the company’s identity under seal, and that it (a corporation) was entitled to anonymity under the 2004 Crime Victims' Rights Act. That law was intended to protect the “dignity and privacy” of victims – and that is what Penney argued. but Judge Douglas P. Woodcock was not convinced -- and in fact was "astonished." The Judge said in the hearing that he believed both retailers should have announced their involvement from the start and that consumers had the right to know. Woodlock said he would not provide the companies “insulation from transparency.”

For more: StorefrontBacktalk » JC Penney, Wet Seal: Gonzalez Mystery Merchants

Motion of Government - http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2010/03/09-cr-10382-14.pdf