Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Path: utzoo!utgpu!cunews!bnrgate!scrumpy!samson!morris
From: morris@samson.bnr.ca (Morris Bernstein)
Subject: Re: Student suspended for distributing /etc/passwd
Message-ID: <1991Jun12.150512.13576@scrumpy@.bnr.ca>
Sender: news@scrumpy@.bnr.ca (USENET NEWS KJ)
Organization: Bell Northern Research Montreal, Canada.
References: <31124@hydra.gatech.EDU> <1991Jun11.221521.14402@athena.cs.uga.edu> <1991Jun12.122421.15562@ms.uky.edu>
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 91 15:05:12 GMT

In article <1991Jun12.122421.15562@ms.uky.edu> sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey) writes:
>mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington) writes:
>
>|>What if a student runs cops on /etc/passwd... would this
(deleted)
>
>|Yes. Obtaining other users' passwords without proper authorization
>|is forbidden. Even if you do it by using a standard software tool
>|rather than by breaking into their desks.
>
>Ah so COPS is now burglary tools. Interesting...
>

COPS is a burglary tool in the same way a crowbar is a burglary tool.
If you want to use a crowbar for a valid purpose, it is perfectly
legitimate.  But is can also be used for unauthorized purposes.
You have to distinguish the context.

Morris
--
Morris Bernstein		 phone:	(514) 765-8275
Bell Northern Research Ltd. 	 fax:	(514) 765-0500
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"I just want to be the Norm Abrams of Computer Programming"