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RE: Authorities eye MSBlaster suspect
From: "Jason Coombs" <jasonc () science org>
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 11:48:46 -1000
I'm not certain what I said that is your issue. My intent is, this young man is caught in possession of a nickel bag.
ah, I read your statement "nickel-bagger" to mean somebody who sells drugs to the end-user on the street, a small-time regional distributor. you meant "somebody in possession of a nickel bag" apparently? a drug user who is primarily a threat to himself (unless he operates a motor vehicle at any time in life subsequent to the drug use or otherwise allows his impaired condition to harm society such as by being unable to hold employment) rather than a more serious criminal who is a real threat to others. the suspect pretty clearly engaged in childhood hacking and cracking with all of the trappings, and he forgot that he turned 18 and was supposed to stop (not to mention grow up). I'm concerned by the trend in law and in society to recast harmless childhood pranks and teenage hacker curiosity as the equivalent of serious crimes - thus we seem to be in agreement. if society wants to throw adult criminals like Jeffrey Lee Parson in prison, then more power to it. but it should have no illusions about what it is doing: prosecuting as criminal acts that which immature script kiddies of all ages perceive as somebody else intentionally luring them into an exciting and fascinating enterprise that beats the hell out of watching television. in many ways Bill Gates personally created Jeffrey Lee Parson, both in terms of indirectly being responsible for the vulnerable code/OS and in terms of hyping economic activity surrounding it, such that every teenager in the industrialized world is mesmerized by Windows-based PCs ... except those few who are talented enough to see through the hypocricy and the lies. the fact that in this case there is a direct political/social/economic insult hurled at "Billy Gates", and an expression of disgust that Windows is so pathetic and puts to many people at risk, combined with the fact that the suspect didn't try very hard, if at all, to hide his identity, just points to a scenario that is very unlike any drug crime. perhaps it borders on political/social activism -- perhaps it borders on protected speech. there can be little doubt that if the suspect didn't personally launch the worm variant as a tool of attack, with the intention of causing harm, then the FBI is faced with proving that this was not protected speech but something criminal; that the suspect did intend others to take his derived work in compiled form and use it as a tool of attack and therefore is guilty of aiding and abetting the crimes of others. Jason Coombs jasonc () science org -----Original Message----- From: full-disclosure-admin () lists netsys com [mailto:full-disclosure-admin () lists netsys com]On Behalf Of Michael D Schleif Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2003 7:08 PM To: full-disclosure () lists netsys com Subject: Re: [Full-disclosure] Authorities eye MSBlaster suspect Jason Coombs <jasonc () science org> [2003:08:30:10:39:53-1000] scribed:
<mds () helices org> wrote:OK, they nabbed a nickel-baggercome on, the guy is a lot closer to a lovesick youth who couldn't resist carving his initials in Windows when he saw the chance than he is to a drug dealer.
<snip /> I'm not certain what I said that is your issue. My intent is, this young man is caught in possession of a nickel bag. To my knowledge, there is nothing about this kid that indicates any international drug cartel, much less a significant menace to society. Nonetheless, every newspaper I saw on Saturday presented this bust as a *major* victory in the war on terrorism !?!? Let's get a grip, and face reality! Whether or not this kid is guilty of anything illegal; or, whether or not his intent was malevolent; this particular event is not even a mote in god's eye, and we'd do well to focus our attentions on more significant portents. Unless, of course, you are simply amused by his exploit . . . -- Best Regards, mds - Dare to fix things before they break . . . - Our capacity for understanding is inversely proportional to how much we think we know. The more I know, the more I know I don't know . . . -- _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.netsys.com/full-disclosure-charter.html
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