Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Fri, 14 Jun 91 20:41:43 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term? Message-ID: Organization: TELECOM Digest Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 453, Message 1 of 5 Lines: 109 The Len Rose saga came to an end this past week when a federal judge considered the circumstances involved and chose to impose punishment by placing Len in the custody of the Attorney General of the United States, or his authorized representative for a period of one year. As in all such cases where the court finds the defendant poses no immediate danger to the community, Len was given a one month period from the imposition of punishment to get his personal affairs in order before beginning his sentence. At some point in time between now and July 10 mutually convenient to Len, his attorney and the government, Len will surrender to the United States Marshall, and be escorted to the penitentiary. As the first order of business at the penitentiary receiving room, he'll be required to submit to a complete strip-search accompanied by a rather indelicate probing to insure that he does not have in his possession any drugs; weapons with which he might harm himself, the staff or other inmates; or other contraband. He'll surrender his identity completely: driver's license, credit cards, social security card -- anything which identifies Len Rose as Len Rose will be taken from him and returned when he is released. For the time he is incarcerated, he will be a number stamped on the uniform he is given to wear. Or, he may be in a minimum security institution and be permitted to wear his 'street clothes', but without a shred of ID in his wallet. His ID will be his prison serial number. But there will still be the initial and occassional thereafter strip search and urine test on demand. Len's wife, who barely speaks English will be left alone to fend for herself for several months. She'll raise the two children the best she can, on whatever money she has available to her. It won't be easy, but then, it wasn't easy when Len was locked up before for a week in the Dupage Jail in Wheaton, IL while the state charges were pending here. Speaking of the kids, I wonder if Len has explained all this to them yet. I wonder if they know, or are old enough to understand their dad is going to prison, and why ... When Len is released, he'll be 'allowed to' carry the tag "ex-con" with him when he applies for work and tries to make new friends. One part of his punishment is that in the future he must reveal his status to prospective employers. Needless to say, the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department trade files all the time ... so Len will want to be super-honest on his federal taxes in the future, since he can probably expect to be audited once or twice in the first five years or so following his release. I wonder if it was all worth it ... if Len had it to do over again if he would do the same things he did before, or if he might consider the consequences more carefully. Despite the intensive crackdown we have seen by the federal government in the past few years against 'white collar' and computer crime, there are still those folks around who either (a) don't think it applies to them, or (b) don't think they will get caught, or (c) don't understand what the big fuss is all about in the first place. If you don't think (c) is still possible, consider the recent thread in comp.org.eff.talk -- yes, I know, *where else* !! -- on the student who got suspended from school for two quarters after downloading and distributing the system password file on the machine he had been entrusted to use. The fact that the debate could go on endlessly for message after message actually questioning what, if anything the chap did wrong tells us plenty about the mentality and 'social respsonsi- bility' of EFF devotees, but that is a whole new topic in itself. The point is, some of us are simply getting very tired of the break-ins, the fraudulent messages, the fact that in order to telnet to a different site we can no longer do so direct from dialup servers without a lot of rig-a-ma-role because computer (ab)users have stolen all the trust which used to exist between sites, and the increasing scarcity of 'guest' accounts on various sites because the sysadmins are tired of being eaten alive with fraudulent and destructive usage. Users had better wise up to one fact: the federal government is going to continue to crack down on abusers of the net and this media. And please, none of your hysterical freedom of speech arguments in my mail, thank you. No one gives an iota what you write about, but when you get your hands in the password file, rip off root or wheel accounts, run programs deceptive to other users designed to rip off their accounts also and generally behave like a two-bit burglar or con-artist, expect to get treated like one when you get caught. And you *will* get caught. Then you can go sit and commiserate with Len Rose. If Len Rose has half the brain I think he has, he will come out of the penitentiary a better person than when he went in. The penitentiary can be, and frequently is a therapeutic experience, at least for the people who think about what it was that caused them to get there in the first place. I feel very sorry about what has happened to Len Rose. I feel worse about the circumstances his wife and children are in. But the socially irresponsible behavior (which some people who call themselves 'socially responsible' seem to condone or wink at) has to stop. Now. A US Attorney involved in prosecuting computer crime once said, "users need an example when they log in of what to expect when they screw up while on line ..." Indeed we do ... and Len Rose will serve as such. And a knowledgeable sysadmin who is quietly cooperating with the government tells me a federal grand jury is to returning another cycle of indictments. Need I say more? So Len, *was* it all worth it? Patrick Townson