U.K. man arrested, jailed for using non-standard Web browser? [fs]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/27/jailed_for_using_a_n.html

Thursday, January 27, 2005
Jailed for using a nonstandard browser

A Londonder made a tsnuami-relief donation using lynx -- a text-based 
browser used by the blind, Unix-users and others -- on Sun's Solaris 
operating system. The site-operator decided that this "unusual" event in 
the system log indicated a hack-attempt, and the police broke down the 
donor's door and arrested him. From a mailing list:

    For donating to a Tsunami appeal using Lynx on Solaris 10. BT 
[British Telecom] who run the donation management system misread an 
access log and saw hmm thats a non standard browser not identifying it's 
type and it's doing strange things. Trace that IP. Arrest that hacker.

    Armed police, a van, a police cell and national news later the 
police have gone in SWAT styley and arrested someone having their lunch.

    Out on bail till next week and preparing to make a lot of very bad 
PR for BT and the Police....

    So just goes to show if you use anything other than Firefox or IE 
and you rely on someone else to interogate access logs or IDS logs you 
too could be sitting in a paper suit in a cell :(
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