Privacy advocates thought the case important . David L. Sobel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said : " It is probably the most clear-cut example we have of a violation of this statute on the part of the Government . If the Navy prevails , it will basically mean there is no meaningful protection against government intrusion in cyberspace . " An AOL spokesman said : " We have clear policies in place that our member service representatives do n't give out member information . What is disturbing to us is that the Navy may have circumvented established channels that we have for working with law enforcement in an attempt to get information about one of our members . " A representative of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network , an advocacy group for gay and lesbian military personnel , said : " Timothy McVeigh did n't work hard to get on anybody 's radar screen . The only information that the Navy has is this AOL profile , and I think there 's a strong argument that this is the sort of case that demands discretion from the military . " Frank Rich thought McVeigh could be He contrasted the different treatment the U.S. military afforded two men named Timothy McVeigh . For years the U.S. Army ignored the racism and anti-government radicalism of Timothy J. McVeigh , who went on to perpetrate the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 . The U.S. Navy , by contrast " torments the second , exemplary Timothy McVeigh for the '' crime '' of having a private life that should be nobody 's business but his own "
Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing
McVeigh v. Cohen