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Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!caen!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!mokry
From: mokry@ctr.columbia.edu (Robert Mokry)
Newsgroups: alt.security,alt.folklore.computers,comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Re: Feedback on Computer Crime - Apology
Message-ID: <1990Aug28.161459.11497@ctr.columbia.edu>
Date: 28 Aug 90 16:14:59 GMT
References: <19375@ttidca.TTI.COM> <1990Aug25.095033.29589@funet.fi> <1990Aug27.194144.10910@cbnewsl.att.com>
Organization: Columbia University Center for Telecommunications Research
Lines: 43

In article <1990Aug27.194144.10910@cbnewsl.att.com> arrizzo@cbnewsl.att.com (anthony.r.rizzo) writes:
>In article <1990Aug25.095033.29589@funet.fi> eal@kaarne.tut.fi (Lehtim{ki Erkki) writes:
>>One day, when I was going to connect to node xxx.yyy.a.b, I
>>mistakenly connected to yyy.xxx.a.b
>>Well, I get message Sun-Os ....... and the login-prompt, which I was expecting.
>>But before I typed my user name, I noticed that the organization was wrong,
>>so I typed ^D instead.
>>Now, have I committed a crime or not?
>
>No you have not committed a crime, for the following reasons:
>1)  You did not access the machine.

It all depends how the legal system defines "access."  After all, the machine
was talking to you.  And it might have let you use itself without asking for
a login prompt.

>2)  You did not try to access the machine.

We don't really know if you didn't do it intentionally, and then posted this
note in order to prove that you did it unintentionally.

>3)  Connecting to the wrong node was a genuine mistake,
>    which you corrected by typing ^D.

What sort of statement is ^D?  Try explaining that to the judge.  ("Well,
your honor, first you hold down the control key and then you press the D
key, and no you don't let go of the control key till you've pressed the
D key, and no the D key doesn't need to be upper case so you don't need
to press the shift key at the same time, though I don't think it would
make any difference if you did so.")  No, the only legally-correct thing
that you could type at this point would be something like:
   THE CONNECTION MADE BY THE PARTY OF THE FIRST PART (ME) WAS COMPLETED
   WRONGLY, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THE FAULT OF THE PARTY OF THE
   SECOND PART (THE RECEIVING COMPUTER), AND THE PARTY OF THE FIRST PART
   HOLDS THE RIGHT TO ASK THE PARTY OF THE SECOND PART FOR DAMAGES FOR THE
   AFOREMENTIONED CONNECTION IN ERROR.
And don't forget the caps; it isn't legally correct unless you include the
caps.

Good thing you didn't enter your name and password, or then you would have
really been in deep legal trouble.

:-)