Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!know!sdd.hp.com!usc!apple!bionet!hayes.ims.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: cowan@marob.masa.com (John Cowan) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: IDG Hackers Message-ID: <15086@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 28 Nov 90 19:49:43 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: The Logical Language Group, Inc. Lines: 40 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 855, Message 2 of 11 In article <14983@accuvax.nwu.edu>, John Macdonald writes: >Pat, are you trying to say that it doesn't matter how much damage was >done? The and importance and concerns are the same for $2.4M and $24? >Do you consider the offence to be identical when one person kicks over >a sand castle and another dynamites a ten story building? Our Esteemed Moderator replies: >The monetary value is not nearly as important >as is the nearly forgotten and frequently ignored ethical value called >'respect for the property rights of others'. Ethical values are one thing; bases for legal action, quite another. In law, the amount of the damage makes a great deal of difference. For example, "diversity jurisdiction" suits (ones that are heard in Federal court because the parties are of different states) must involve damages exceeding $10,000, or back to state court they go. Therefore, your smart member of the Federal bar always specifies at least $10,000, however petty the issue. Punishment-by-frivolous lawsuit is indeed a serious problem in this country, exacerbated by the each-pays-for-himself rule of American courts (as opposed to English ones, where the loser bears the winner's costs). Inflating the value of the matter at hand allows the bringing to bear of much larger guns. >I really get sick of >hearing this bologna about how hackers/phreakers are so different, No argument with the sentiment, but the word in that sense is spelled "baloney". Check out Al Smith's speeches. cowan@marob.masa.com (aka ...!hombre!marob!cowan) [Moderator's Note: I get tired of the baloney also! PAT]