If you leave your car unlocked and the thief can take the car three times,
I'm sure the police and/or your insurance company will want
to have a chat with you.
-Mark
Mansur, Warren wrote:
> I suppose everyone has a different opinion on this, so I figure I might
> as well share mine :-)
>
> If a thief breaks into my car, and then uses it to run over and kill 10
> people, am I responsible for the death of those 10 people? The police
> may at first suspect me because my car was used, but as soon as they
> find out my car was stolen and someone else did the killing, I will be
> absolved of all charges.
>
> Similarly, if someone breaks into my computer, and then uses it to hack
> into other systems, scan other systems, spread viruses, etc . . . , am I
> responible for the hacking, scanning, or viruses? Again, your internet
> provider may at first suspect you because it was your computer that
> committed the crimes. But, as soon as they find out it wasn't you, how
> can they say it's your fault?
>
> Nothing works this way in life. If I own a hammer, and someone uses my
> hammer to kill somebody, am I a murderer? If I own a crowbar, and
> someone uses my crowbar to break into a house, do I become a thief? If
> I own a computer, and someone uses my computer to hack into other
> systems, do I become a hacker?
>
> The obvious answer is "no way".
>
> Ownership by itself does not imply guilt.
>
> Therefore it is my opinion that AT&T cannot say that you are a hacker
> based only on the fact that your computer has been involved in some
> illegal activities, and their policy to permanently turn off your
> service is basically ridiculous. There are other alternatives such as
> tracking down the hacker or providing help with some type of firewall
> service.
>
> That's my opinion. I'm sure there are 50 others :-)
>
> -Warren
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Greg Kettmann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 12:42 PM
> To: David Roberts
> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: A story and some advice.
>
>
> Folks: First, I really appreciate all the feedback. Most has been
> excellent.
>
> About the only area that I fundamentally disagree with is sort of the
> combination "it's my fault / M1 - AT&T is doing OK". Yes, I accept my
> share
> of the responsibility but I really, REALLY think that M1/AT&T, who have
> the
> resources, should be doing something to try to actually go after the
> crackers. OK, I'm not just "an innocent victim" and I'm responsible for
> putting my high performance sports car on the net but M1/AT&T owns the
> highway
> and they certainly have capabilities and facilities that far outstrip
> what I
> have on my Linux Firewall.
>
> That said, my brother is a reporter and I can either get published or he
> can
> get published. M1/AT&T is a monopoly and I think simply discontinuing
> someones service "forever" and ignoring the "cracker" is not an
> appropriate
> behavior. So please, any suggestions for writing to cover M1's
> responsibility in all this? They're the only game in town and they're a
> major
> player on the Internet. Are they really taking the most appropriate
> actions
> and doing all they can to make the Internet safe for everyone?
>
> Clearly I'm biased and I'm mad right now. But it really bothers me that
> M1
> can have so little corporate responsibility for solving these problems.
> Yes,
> they can just kick anyone off that get's caught port scanning but we all
> know
> that this is not a permanent solution. The cracker will just crack
> another
> box and nothing will have been done to correct the core problem.
>
> Finally, I'm very concerned about the perception here that Linux is bad
> for
> the Internet. True Windows is a brick and Linux a Porsche but people
> buying
> stuff at Best Buy don't care about that. They just want to browse the
> web.
> Remember the saying "guns don't kill people, people do" (FLAMES OFF,
> this was
> not a political statement, merely an analogy). If a Linux box is more
> capable
> of doing damage on the web then this is a PR or a perception issue that
> must
> be addressed and yes, in my current job capacity that's exactly the
> types of
> things I worry about. The perception here is that Linux is a loose
> cannon on
> the Internet, if not properly bolted down and yet the average user has
> no idea
> how to bolt it down, therefore Linux is inappropriate for the aveage
> user.
>
> I don't know. Please feel free to comment away. I'll post what I write
> before I send it to my brother.
>
> Thanks for all your help.
>
>
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--
Mark Komarinski - Senior Systems Engineer - VA Linux Systems
(cell) 978-697-2228
(email) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Have one day pleasant" - Babelfish
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