To follow up on John’s post below, let me ask a question: of these three, which is the worst crime?
1. A guy burns down a warehouse, destroying millions of dollars of computers.
2. A guy sabotages Internet lines, causing millions of dollars in damage.
3. A guy releases a small program that disrupts hundreds of thousands of computers, causing millions of dollars in lost labor and lost data.
Answer: #1 is the worst, because it could involve physical harm to human beings, but #2 and #3 do not. That being said, the other two are still very bad. The day after they caught the 18-year-old miscreant who released the Blaster worm, I saw some guy from MSNBC saying that he was only a kid and that authorities shouldn’t be too hard on him. I don’t care if he was celebrating his 18th birthday the day he released the worm. He’s a felonious vandal and he should go to jail.
I’m guessing the reason people aren’t more outraged is because his damage was intangible — how do you figure the monetary value of the time and data the guy destroyed throughout the world? That, and because he’s a fat, nerdy white kid instead of a muscular black youth. People don’t feel as threatened by the former.
Still not convinced that this kid committed a serious crime? Then let’s acquit the corporate criminals at Enron. After all, their crimes were (mostly) intangible, turning on things like accounting mirages, false statements, and stock price drops.
I’m guessing that American virus and worm production would drop dramatically if more of these guys ended up in the federal pen.
[/rant]
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Well, the real reason to not prosecute is that it would drag Microsoft in for leaving such attractive nuisances as Outlook all over the desktops of the world ;)
In spite of all the demagogy about white-collar crime, nobody triple-locks their door at night in Brooklyn for fear of Ken Lay or Martha Stewart.
But you’re right: releasing a virus is a white-collar crime, even if the perpetrator is wearing a T-shirt. It deserves more punishment than, e.g., some teenager swapping files on Napster.
Eric and RC are right: it is white collar crime. But I do not think that it should be put on the same level with what the Enron guys did. They were mature, middle-aged men who were costing people millions of dollars for their own self-interest. This is a kid who wrote one variant of a virus that on the whole cost millions of dollars. He is immature and did it as a prank. I do think he should do some time, but the book should not be thrown at him.
According to the news, the penalty for the offense could be up to ten years. I’m thinking six months would be adequate.
I’m still thinking we should stone him. Or public beheading.
Today, Thursday, 04 September, is the first time I have had an internet connection work since that virus was released. I’ll cast a stone or two!
But what can any punishment do, if we don’t work to eliminate the root causes of virus hacking, such as poverty, inadequate sex education, and the Church’s refusal to let lesbian priests marry?