* * * * *
                                        
                 Using a computer during school is now illegal
                                        
> Dempsey is talking about the bill's sweeping language, which punishes
> activities that affect a computer rather than ones that damage it or
> successfully penetrate its security. Contrary to what the name of the bill
> implies, the measure covers any school computer system, not just websites,
> and could criminalize pranks such as sending mail from a friend's computer
> when they've left themselves logged in. 
> 

Senator Targets School Hackers [1] 

Good lord I'm glad I'm no longer in school. If this had been around when I
was going to school I would have potentially been arrested in 7^th grade when
I wrote the following program: 




10 PRINT "some disrespectful remark about the teacher"
20 GOTO 10

RUN


Or perhaps I would have been arrested in college when I caused the computer
screens to melt during class (fortunately, the Statutes of Limitation have
run their course). Or when I snagged root access by exploiting X windows. Or
even when I've sent email to a person who left themselves logged in (I did
that one several times). Or caused … well, you get the idea. 

I wonder what happened to the existing laws? I assume they're still around,
right? 

[1] http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,45752,00.html

Email author at sean@conman.org

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