Hacker Whose E-Mail Called Police Goes to Jail

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Louisiana man who wrote malicious e-mails that caused some computers to dial the 911 emergency number was sentenced on Monday to six months in prison.

A U.S. federal judge sentenced David Jeansonne, 44, to the prison term as well as six months home detention after he admitted sending e-mails to about 20 subscribers of Microsoft's WebTV, a television Internet service since renamed MSN TV.

Code embedded in the e-mail changed the subscriber's WebTV number to dial 911 rather than WebTV. Police dispatched officers on at least 10 occasions because of the 2002 hoax, officials said.

Jeansonne pleaded guilty last month to two counts of intentionally damaging computers and causing a public safety threat.

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