If you’re a repair guy, you have no legal issues to worry about. You were working on someone else’s property and noticed the illegal material. You going directly to the authorities (without attempting to bribe/blackmail the person) means you are clean.
I tried to find what federal law he was referencing -- this might be it: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2258A, though I'm not sure when this law took effect and I know it was new when he brought it up to me.
Since the drive belonged to the customer (and that's easy to prove), I didn't have to worry about it being mistaken for being mine (though, I'll admit, that was something I was very concerned about). The issue is that people in certain positions have a requirement to report certain types of illegal behavior. Normally you wouldn't think "Computer Service Provider", when you think mandatory reporting -- you think teacher, psychologist, etc. But thorny subjects like sex crimes against minors tend to be far reaching.
If you’re a repair guy, you have no legal issues to worry about. You were working on someone else’s property and noticed the illegal material. You going directly to the authorities (without attempting to bribe/blackmail the person) means you are clean.
I tried to find what federal law he was referencing -- this might be it: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2258A, though I'm not sure when this law took effect and I know it was new when he brought it up to me.
Since the drive belonged to the customer (and that's easy to prove), I didn't have to worry about it being mistaken for being mine (though, I'll admit, that was something I was very concerned about). The issue is that people in certain positions have a requirement to report certain types of illegal behavior. Normally you wouldn't think "Computer Service Provider", when you think mandatory reporting -- you think teacher, psychologist, etc. But thorny subjects like sex crimes against minors tend to be far reaching.