Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: 15 Jun 91 16:32:21 GMT From: Jim Youll Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term? Reply-To: Jim Youll Message-ID: Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh. 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 459, Message 4 of 5 Lines: 83 In article telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: > The Len Rose saga came to an end this past week when a federal judge [etc...]> [... discussion of impoverished wife, kids] > Users had better wise up to one fact: the federal government is going Oh, thank God. I feel much better knowing that the feds are going to continue their wholly uninformed pursuit of people committing crimes the feds don't even understand. Maybe you have forgotten Steve Jackson Games. I haven't. > 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. None here. > 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 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Bull!!!!!!!!!! Male-male gang rape can *LEAD* to therapy, is maybe what you mean here... > 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. > 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? Yeah, you might mention that the grand juries generally haven't the slightest idea what a computer is, let alone a computer-oriented crime. I'm not invoking any of the free-speech or other arguments and don't intend to, but when law enforcement makes a mockery of justice as it has in many, many computer-crime cases, and when we see corporations inflate their alleged losses by factors of a hundred or a thousand, then something is terribly wrong, and simply focusing on the vicious pursuit of real or alleged criminals just serves to draw attention away from the very real problems caused by runaway egos of prosecutors. If I had to analyze the nerds who come up with the loss figures, I'd say they're trying for a big number to please their superiors and to gain fame . A two million dollar crime that you stopped looks a hell of a lot better than a $200 crime. People who are not computer- literate will generally believe what they're told by "experts". (Well, true of any field). > So Len, *was* it all worth it? Your compassion for your fellow man overwhelms me. Sure, Higdon goes after an outfit that makes its *entire profit* entrapping and prosecuting people who may not have committed a crime at all (anyone who has access to a telephone and incorrect information can dial a 950- number, for cryin' out loud). Shows that they are rude, incompetent. I see a direct parallel in the prosecution and entrapment of people in the current "crackdown" on computer crime. It's a government fad and in its wake are going to be a lot of innocent victims, and I'm not just talking about wives and children. Disclaimer: Messages originating from this address are mechanically generated. Management assumes no responsibility for the contents thereof. Jim Youll, aka jyoull@andy.bgsu.edu, 419/354-2110