Greek Police Arrest Programmer Because People He Met Got Spammed?

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Greek Police Arrest Programmer Because People He Met Got Spammed?

Ancient Greece, home of the great thinkers. If any of them were around right now they'd punch somebody's lights out.

Sydney Phillips writes in about her husband, Rick Downes, a Swedish programmer who was apparently arrested in Greece after some people he met (in person) received some spam - and accused him of sending it. Rick doesn't seem like the type to spam, as Phillips notes, he 'was recently recommended to the caretakers board of ENISA, the new European Union taskforce for Internet Security to be based in Heraklion, Crete.'

The details are a bit muddled, and it would be great if there were more to back this story up, but, in the meantime, it seemed like it was worth mentioning.

The story from Phillips is apparently that Rick met some people, who later all received nearly identical spam. They immediately assumed that since they had met Rick together, and they all received the same spam, it must be his fault.

The police don't seem all that helpful, telling them first not to contact a lawyer, and then telling him he needed to sign a 'statement' in Greek - despite his lack of knowledge of the language.

Also, it doesn't appear Rick's actually been told what he's being charged with - which makes the whole thing that much more confusing. It would be great if someone who had more details can provide them.

Of course, this isn't the first time we've heard about the Greek legal system being positively baffled by technology.