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From: werner@utastro.UUCP (Werner Uhrig)
Newsgroups: news.admin,news.sysadmin
Subject: What I suspect happened (Re: THE virus)
Keywords: abolish lynch mobs, practice democracy and common sense
Message-ID: <3373@utastro.UUCP>
Date: 11 Nov 88 13:21:55 GMT
Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX
Lines: 28

My guess is, that Robert Morris Jr (who is a man and not a kid by any
standards of respect a 23-year old deserves - and which his technical
expertise and experience well demand) was working on his thesis or
his independent research interest, computer security and the lack
thereof, without any intention to actually let a worm loose on the
Internet, not now and not ever, when his tests got out of hand and
the worm escaped .....

Robert can't speak up for himself (not in this society of lawyers),
he can't even admit to anything (not with the merciless legal system
we have, where the truely guilty get out on a technicality and wisdom
and compassion is not part of the legal dictionary),
and it would behoove us, the bystanders, to stop accusing and condemning,
and calling for a lynch-mob.

I am glad to see that Robert's colleagues and friends at Bell Labs are
speaking up in testament of his character and work and I deplore the
spectacle of uncontrolled outbursts this net has become.   I, for one,
would like a moderated forum where I do not have to wade through the
accumulated despicable utterences of the "noisy minority of the net".

        Werner Uhrig (speaking for myself, but you are welcome to agree)

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