Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!lethe!yunexus!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!know!sdd.hp.com!ucsd!pacbell.com!pacbell!sactoh0!tree!dawnt From: dawnt@tree.uucp (Jon Cline) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Steve Jackson Games Search Warrant Message-ID: <1990Nov21.005046.27574@tree.uucp> Date: 21 Nov 90 00:50:46 GMT References: <1990Nov14.151548.6650@eff.org> <1990N Organization: TREE BBS (916)349-0385 Sacramento, Ca Lines: 29 v18.034409.1833@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> In article <1990Nov18.034409.1833@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>, gl8f@astsun9.astro virginia.edu (Greg Lindahl) writes: > And if I collect password files given to me by users of > various machines as part of a statistical study of stupid passwords, > that also hardly seems a crime. > > Of course, lockpick tools are illegal in some places. True or false? Lockpicking tools are illegal if they are used with INTENT of felony. Notice that the INTENT must be there. However, intent is always a matter of opinion. The collection of passwords is also illegal if used with INTENT of entering a computer with them. Alone they are mearely words. I guess it could be argued that since passwords are private things, it would be infringement on someone's privacy to decode their password. This seems like a thin (very thin) arguement though. But if the user (stupidly) used the same password on 10 different machines, and you posted a list of all the passwords on your system after taking the entire system down, you could be contributing to the breaking/entering of someone who takes that user's password and uses it to get into the other machines. -- ...ucbvax!ucdavis!csusac!tree!dawnt "It's hard to believe that the entire fate of the world lies in the hands of the telephone company."