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Major League Baseball “has been aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros' baseball operations database,” a spokesman for baseball's commissioner, Rob Manfred, said in a written statement.

The primary law implicated by the Cardinals’ alleged hacking would appear to be the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The CFAA was originally passed back in 1984 to protect both the government and the financial industry from electronic espionage. The law was later expanded in 1996, however, to cover any unauthorized, remote access of another’s computer.

Under Section (a)(4) of the CFAA, anyone who “knowingly … accesses a protected computer without authorization” in order to “obtain[] anything of value” is subject to potential criminal liability for the hacking. Similarly, Section (a)(5)(B) of the law prohibits “intentionally access[ing] a protected computer without authorization,” should it result in any damage being inflicted on the computer’s owner.

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Notably, however, this maximum sentence would apply per offense, meaning that if the hackers were shown to have illegally accessed the Astros’ computers on more than one occasion, each separate intrusion would constitute a separate offense, each carrying a potential five-year jail sentence and monetary fine.

RaoulDuke79 wrote:From an article Mr. E posted in the Astros forum:

DENVER — Thursday’s tacit admission by the Cardinals owner that someone in his organization was involved in hacking the Astros was only an early step in bringing to light a saga that is expected to prove more shocking once the FBI has completed its investigation and all the details are released.

The Chronicle on Thursday learned that the Cardinals had unauthorized access to Astros information as early as 2012, a year earlier than was previously known. Cards owner Bill DeWitt Jr., meanwhile, for the first time acknowledged that his organization had played a role in accessing proprietary information belonging to the Astros, blaming “roguish behavior.”

Meeting with reporters in St. Louis on Thursday along with general manager John Mozeliak, DeWitt said his own organization’s investigation was still ongoing and did not specify which employee or employees were responsible, but told club workers on Thursday “we’ve all been tainted.”

Higga wrote:I'm surprised this hasn't gotten the same attention as deflategate when its way worse IMO.

Higga wrote:I'm surprised this hasn't gotten the same attention as deflategate when its way worse IMO.

Raps in 4 wrote:

Higga wrote:I'm surprised this hasn't gotten the same attention as deflategate when its way worse IMO.

It hasn't gotten the same attention because it isn't in-game cheating that could potentially lead to a championship.

The Patriots were caught cheating TWICE. Both instances potentially led to Super Bowl victories. I fail to see how this could lead to St. Louis winning a WS. They might be able to use the information to fleece Houston in a trade, but that's nowhere near as bad as actual in-game cheating.

Spygate and Deflategate are comparable to PED use in sports because they directly contributed to a team winning a championship that they may not have won otherwise.

Raps in 4 wrote:

Higga wrote:I'm surprised this hasn't gotten the same attention as deflategate when its way worse IMO.

It hasn't gotten the same attention because it isn't in-game cheating that could potentially lead to a championship.

The Patriots were caught cheating TWICE. Both instances potentially led to Super Bowl victories. I fail to see how this could lead to St. Louis winning a WS. They might be able to use the information to fleece Houston in a trade, but that's nowhere near as bad as actual in-game cheating.

Spygate and Deflategate are comparable to PED use in sports because they directly contributed to a team winning a championship that they may not have won otherwise.

Former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa plead guilty to five counts of unauthorized access into the Astros’ computer system.

Correa appeared before U.S. Magistrate Mary Milloy and made his plea later before U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes.

Each conviction of unauthorized access of a protected computer carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine. Correa will pay $275,000 in restitution as well.

The value of the information that Correa gained unauthorized access has been set at $1.7 million. Federal attorneys said they came to the $1.7 million figure based on the Astros’ scouting budget and the number of players included in the database.

A former St. Louis Cardinals executive pleaded guilty Friday to gaining unauthorized access to the Astros' confidential player scouting database, wrapping up an 18-month federal investigation that injected cybercrime into a decades-old rivalry that heretofore had been confined between the white lines of a baseball diamond.

Christopher Correa, 35, of St. Louis, the Cardinals' former director of baseball development, admitted to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer and looking at Astros information from 2013-14.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes set Correa's sentencing for April 11 - the day of the 2016 home openers for both the Cardinals and Astros - on the five felony counts, each of which carries a maximum penalty of not more than five years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Correa, who was fired by the Cardinals last July after the intrusions into the Astros' "Ground Control" database became public, had no comment as he left the courthouse with his Houston attorney, David Adler.

As he stood before Hughes, however, Correa said, "Yes, your honor, I accept responsibility for my mistakes." He later added, "It was stupid."