NASCAR Fan Faces Prison Time for E-mails

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<h2><font color=#003399>NASCAR Fan Faces Prison Time for E-mails</font></h2>
A NASCAR (news - web sites) fan faces up to a year in prison for flooding Fox Entertainment with more than a half-million e-mails because he was angry the network aired a Boston Red Sox (news) game instead of an auto race.

Michael Melo of Billerica has agreed to plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge of damage to a protected computer system, his attorney said Wednesday.

The action forced the network to shut down part of its Web site.

The messages were sent through the company's Boston-area affiliate, according to the federal complaint.

Fearing a hacker was attacking its computer system, the company shut down a portion of its Web site, costing Fox $36,000, according to federal prosecutors.

Also, by taking a portion of its Web site down, Fox Entertainment was unable to communicate via computer with WFXT-TV 25 in suburban Boston for several hours, and left the local affiliate unable to receive viewer e-mail, prosecutors said.

"There was no intention to cause any of this damage and the government isn't claiming he did," Good said.

"It happened, but it was produced by machines running wild.

A message left on an answering machine for a Michael Melo in Billerica was not immediately returned on Wednesday evening.

No date has been set for his plea hearing and sentencing.


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