Replies

IMO
The fact that #20 used an email account of Berg's is a lark.

Schools are NOTORIOUS for lax security.
It is SOP for schools to neglect to remove accounts from former students.
I know people who are amazed to discover that they still have email accounts at schools they attended 8-10 years ago!!!
This is VERY common.

_IF_ Nicholas Berg was no longer in attendance, it was not his responsibility to protect his email account.

How many email accounts did #20 use?
Was Nicholas Berg's account one of many used???
Is this data being quoted OUT OF CONTEXT?

If Nicholas Berg was criminally complicit in lending his account info to #20, THAT would likely null any benifit.

How many Freepers post account and password info so that others can view news stories???

Nicholas Berg may have treated his old email account in a similar manner. A poor choice, but not evil.

It is trivial to get 'someones' account info on any campus.

Anyone with a web page that allows scripts to run can collect more account info that they will ever need.

Suppose I wrote a troll post of some sort as a ruse.
In that post I mention a web site.
Many of the eyes on the post will check it out.
Of those some would sign up for a FREE account useing their favorite name and password. If they ALSO include an email address it is quite LIKELY that I could gain controll of their email! I could still find many of the others just by trying the top 10 or so ISP's. Some might even be valid Freerepublic accounts!

My point is,,,
It is easy to 'social engineer' around security.
Does that make the victim evil?

I have never given any personal passwords to anyone ever.
I know many who do not share my anal attitude regarding security. Pre 9/11 I was just an odd paranoid zealot.
I'm still paranoid, but I am not in the zealot minority any longer.

To date, the only thing that I have read about Nicholas Berg that makes me go 'hmmmm' is the fact that he appears to enjoy/tolerate the company of muzzlums.

This is a reflection of _MY_ personal belief system, not Nicholas Berg! (sad but true)
A classic case of wholesale condemnation prior to investigation on my part. Non evil muzzies may in fact exist.

He may have been the type to look FIRST for the good things in ALL people. Being a fool is not evil.

On another note;

I think it prudent to seperate Nicholas from his father.
Nick did! (as per what I have read so far)
The first quote out of the father, before he was contacted by the dims, before being notified ON CAMERA about the 'graphic' details, before the media went 24/7, is where I place my bets.

He was quoted as speaking directly about Nick and what Nick believed. Later quotes reflect the fathers painful spin.

Do 4 dots on a paper in a square pattern demand that a square is the only shape that crosses through all the dots?
Answer: No.
A circle will connect them in the exact same order with a single curved line instead of 4 straight line segments, a triangle works too. The possibilities are endless.

Apply Occams razor.

I have no idea if he was complicit in his own demise.
It is NOT the most likely scenario IMneverHO.