Not that I have any sympathy whatsoever for hackers, but just don't see how
the punishment would fit the crime.
Crime with a gun = 3 - 5 years. Crime with a keyboard = Life?!?
Give me a break! I bet Billy Gates is pushing for this to deter people from
hacking throught the piss-poor security in Wndoze!
----- Original Message -----
From: "J.D. Abolins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2001 7:20 AM
Subject: Fwd: Hackers face life imprisonment under 'Anti-Terrorism' Act
> Although not exactly Linux related, this item is significant to share.
> ---
> http://www.securityfocus.com/news/257
>
> NEWS
>
> Hackers face life imprisonment under 'Anti-Terrorism' Act Justice
> Department proposal classifies most computer crimes as acts of terrorism.
>
> By Kevin Poulsen
> Sep 23 2001 11:00PM PT
>
> Hackers, virus-writers and web site defacers would face life imprisonment
> without the possibility of parole under legislation proposed by the Bush
> Administration that would classify most computer crimes as acts of
terrorism.
>
> The Justice Department is urging Congress to quickly approve its
> Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), a twenty-five page proposal that would expand
the
> government's legal powers to conduct electronic surveillance, access
> business records, and detain suspected terrorists.
>
> The proposal defines a list of "Federal terrorism offenses" that are
> subject to special treatment under law. The offenses include assassination
> of public officials, violence at international airports, some bombings and
> homicides, and politically-motivated manslaughter or torture.
>
> [...]
>
> To date no terrorists are known to have violated the Computer Fraud and
> Abuse Act. But several recent hacker cases would have qualified as
"Federal
> terrorism offenses" under the Justice Department proposal, including the
> conviction of Patrick Gregory, a prolific web site defacer who called
> himself "MostHateD"; Kevin Mitnick, who plead guilty to penetrating
> corporate networks and downloading proprietary software; Jonathan "Gatsby"
> Bosanac, who received 18-months in custody for cracking telephone company
> computers; and Eric Burns, the Shoreline, Washington hacker who scrawled
> "Crystal, I love you" on a United States Information Agency web site in
> 1999. The 19-year-old was reportedly trying to impress a classmate with
> whom he was infatuated.
>
> [...]
>
