I think I agree with what you say here, too, after there was even further clarification via their provided information. "Picket line" is a great analogy.
I'm not sure that mentioning in their docs that the USER has the intent to cause the slowdown is enough for the legal system to somehow prosecute the individual node users, but I think common sense reigns here. If there were to be a legal tangle, it would make more sense and be most effective to go after the provider of the database/software/service, and not really bother with the nodes/node owners, since a battle won against the provider would subsequently kill off the nodes anyway. Hard to tell though... but I "feel" (a bad word to use when discussing legality!) confident that as an end-user of the app, we're not as likely to be directly involved in the legal battle beyond maybe a cease-and-desist order of some kind (a false sense of security on my part?? :) > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Dave Riddle > Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 12:07 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Lycos screensaver tackles spam websites > > > > > > >The first legality, has no precedent. Not only is it nearly > impossible to > >prove that the traffic - traffic they welcomed with their spam > - is legit or > >a DDoS, there appears to be no laws in place relating to such > activity. One > >cannot yet state with all certainty that what Lycos is doing is > "illegal", > >though in strictly legal terms, one could definitely say they > are walking a > > Actually I think the precedent is there and Lycos is not walking a thin > line at all. Equate what they are doing to having a picket line out in > front of a brick and mortar business. As long as they are not > "stopping" > legitimate customers from entering and transacting business they > are within > their legal rights to conduct their protests. If the business being > picketed feels that the protestors are slowing down their > business then the > only way to stop the picket is to address the concerns of the > protestors. The same with a labor dispute with the management of a > company. If so-called "scabs" cross the picket line to work for that > company the protestors only get in trouble if they try to stop > the people > seeking to cross the line. > > A picket line is both legal and ethical as long as the intent is to > protest. Lycos seems to have put in place with their > "health-check" on the > server being attacked (protested) the protections to help ensure > that they > stay on the side of protesting the business rather than crossing > the line > of inflicting damage by burning down the establishment. > > >thin line. It's hard to prove "intent" in this case... at least prove > >intent of the individual nodes. Intent of Lycos is clear, and > that's why > >I'm pretty sure it's THEIR necks on the line. It's up to each person to > > Sure it is. Read the very short disclaimer that is presented before you > download the screensaver. It clearly outlines the intent of > both Lycos and > the person that will run the screensaver. > > > >The second, ethics, I would argue is not a black-and-white > answer. If you > >are the type of person that sees right and wrong as 100% > absolute, then what > >Lycos (and hence, participant in the program) is doing is > either ethical or > >unethical... probably *unethical*, to you. Ethically speaking, > it becomes > >up to each person to then decide if killing a spammer's > website, with the > >intent of stopping their *PROVEN* illegal practice, is ethical. > > You need to read what Lycos is actually doing. They are NOT > going to Kill > the site rather to slow down the traffic and raise the cost of doing > business in the same way that a picket line in front of a business > does. Now if Lycos did not put in place these protections and actually > allowed the traffic they were responsible for generating to "kill" the > spammers website than they would be in violation of their software > agreement between them and the people using the screensaver. > > > > To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html > List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/ To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/
