WASHINGTON--The Supreme Court Thursday narrowed the scope of a federal anti-hacking law, ruling that it doesn't cover individuals who use their authorized access to obtain information for improper purposes. The decision came in the case of a police officer who ran a woman's license plate in exchange for cash from a man, something that "plainly flouted his department's policy," Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for a 6-3 court. But his action didn't violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, which authorizes up to 10 years imprisonment for anyone who "intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access" to obtain computer information. In a 20-page opinion that, among other features, focused on the grammatical significance of the modifier "so," Justice Barrett drew a sharp distinction: The law covers people who, although they are authorized to use a computer system, obtain files that are off-limits to them. But it doesn't reach those who are entitled to access particular information--like Nathan Van Buren, a former Cumming, Ga., police sergeant who was authorized to use the motor-vehicle database--even if they misuse the data they pull.