Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Mon, 17 Jun 91 22:07:12 EDT From: Larry Campbell Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: What Len Rose and Al Capone Have in Common Message-ID: Organization: The Boston Software Works, Inc. 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 481, Message 5 of 7 Lines: 41 Pat, you are *way* out of line. Al Capone was directly responsible for scores, possibly hundreds, of violent deaths. Len Rose was responsible for, umm, hmm, let's see ... what *actual* *harm* did he commit? Who did he injure? Whose money did he steal? Gee, that's a tough one ... Yes, white collar crime is a problem. Yes, depending on which Gucci-clad consultant you choose to believe, computer-related embezzlement results in the theft of X billion dollars a year. Okay, fine, prosecute *those* guys. HOW MUCH DID LEN ROSE STEAL? WHO DID LEN ROSE SHOOT? OK, he had an unauthorized copy of login.c (who doesn't?), but FEDERAL PRISON for THAT? Get a GRIP, folks, we're talking foam-at-the-mouth hysteria here over *really* *trivial* *transgressions*. (And please, no "but we have to nip this sort of thing in the bud" rationalizations; in a just society you punish people for the crimes they've *actually committed*, not the ones that they *might*, or that they might *encourage* ...) And the self-righteous gloating from people like Pat Townson makes me want to puke. Larry Campbell The Boston Software Works, Inc., 120 Fulton Street campbell@redsox.bsw.com Boston, Massachusetts 02109 (USA) [Moderator's Note: Who did Len hurt? Suppose we have the next message describe that in detail. As Moderator, it is far too easy for me to stack the Digest with messages which agree with me ... and to avoid any charges of favoritism I've avoided printing a lot of the stuff which has agreed with my position. But the next message was one I thought really worth sharing. Then we will conclude with a final word from Len Rose himself. PAT]