Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ptsfa!hoptoad!academ!uhnix1!nuchat!biff From: biff@nuchat.UUCP (Brad Daniels) Newsgroups: comp.misc,misc.headlines Subject: Re: Hacker Scholarship Message-ID: <254@nuchat.UUCP> Date: Sat, 11-Jul-87 16:14:37 EDT Article-I.D.: nuchat.254 Posted: Sat Jul 11 16:14:37 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 18-Jul-87 13:36:17 EDT References: <2757@mtgzz.UUCP> <345@genesis.UUCP> <2318@hoptoad.uucp> <2240@bunker.UUCP> Organization: Public Access - Houston, Tx Lines: 47 Xref: mnetor comp.misc:843 misc.headlines:1093 In article <2240@bunker.UUCP>, rha@bunker.UUCP (The Minister of Myrth) writes: > Electronically stored information should be no different from any other > tangible good. If a computer system has even basic security features and > this security is violated by someone who is not authorized, then this person > should be guilty of either larceny or breaking and entering, whichever is > more applicable to the particular circumstance. I don't think this is an accurate assessment. You could possibly argue that breaking into a computer system (with or without security) is the moral equivalent of breaking and entering or maybe trespassing, but the fact remains that that is not what the person is actually doing. Nobody is physically entering your property or breaking your locks. Similarly, "stealing" information is not strictly "stealing".... If you leave me alone in your office and leave confidential information where I can get at it, and then I take pictures of that information to look at later, I am hardly stealing anything. You would still have the information, but I would now have it also. Granted, it seems that there is something morally wrong with doing such things, but it certainly doesn't qualify as larceny. I agree that some methods of obtaining information are acceptable, while others aren't. I certainly do not want people randomly invading computers and discovering information which I would prefer to keep confidential. However, the information is not a "tangible good." The person obtaining the information can and should only be punished if a law was broken in obtaining the information. I firmly believe that unauthorized possession of confidential infor- mation should not constitute a crime. As for the issue of accessing computers without authorization, I agree that there should be some law against it. I do not, however, believe that it is breaking and entering. what I am trying to say is that the issue is not at all cut-and-dried. Should we treat a kid who just wants to see if he can get into a real computer the same as we treat a professional thief who is trying to make a companies computer mail him money? At present, people can only be punished if they commit a crime (such as toll fraud, embezzlement, etc.) when they break into a system. Perhaps that is how things should remain. - Brad -- Brad Daniels ...!soma!eyeball!biff Now that I have my own account, biff@tethys.rice.edu I don't NEED a disclaimer. ...!uhnix1!nuchat!biff