Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!lavaca.uh.edu!uhnix1!sugar!ficc!peter
From: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: A lot of stuff that's been happening lately.
Message-ID: <IYE55+F@ggpc2.ferranti.com>
Date: 24 Aug 90 03:14:57 GMT
References: <5A08161122060136-MTABWIDENER*Joshua.R.Poulson@cyber.widener.edu>
Reply-To: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva)
Organization: Xenix Support, FICC
Lines: 36

In article <5A08161122060136-MTABWIDENER*Joshua.R.Poulson@cyber.widener.edu> Joshua.R.Poulson@CYBER.WIDENER.EDU writes:
> Since the use of a computer is a service that is provided to the users,
> when someone extracts usage that he or she is not supposed to extract, we
> consider that THEFT of that service.  This is similar to the people that
> mess with cable TV lines to get pay services.

Fair enough. Now what would you think if the government "cracked down" on
a bunch of guys who were messing with cable-TV lines, and:

	(a) Charged them with the entire cost of producing "Back to the
	    Future II" because they viewed it on the stolen cable.
	(b) Confiscated the property of one of their employer's (say, a
	    bunch of VCRs and tapes at a video store) because they were
	    associated with cable-TV piracy.
	(c) Shut down and confiscated the printing equipment of a company
	    that printed cable program guides because they ran a story on
	    them.

The question isn't whether anyone did anything illegal (it's my opinion that
many people performed actions that are definitely illegal), but whether the
response was (a) appropriate, (b) measured, and (c) directed against the
guilty parties. It is my opinion that it wasn't.

> However, I support the idea that a
> harder stance has be taken again people who misuse or abuse the equipment
> they're provided.

A *harder* stance? Maybe. But a sudden change from looking the other way
(read "The Cuckoo's Egg" for details) to massive overkill is a bit beyond
the pale.

> fancy software very cheaply.  Unix boxes with X Windows are CHEAP, compared
> to the DOS/Windows/OS-2 nightmare.

I don't know about that. X is pretty much a nightmare, too. UNIX is great,
but X is a step backwards to the monitor/ROM library approach to O/S design.
-- 
Peter da Silva.   `-_-'
+1 713 274 5180.   'U`
peter@ferranti.com