55 years for breaking a EULA?
July 22, 2006 5:20 PM   Subscribe

 
I know what he did was wrong, but 55 years plus the monetary penalty seems extremely excessive.
posted by bigmusic at 5:20 PM on July 22, 2006


Legal beagles: should the prosecution succeed, how strong of a precedent would this set vis-a-vis the binding strength of click-through eulas?
posted by little miss manners at 5:43 PM on July 22, 2006


bigmusic writes "but 55 years plus the monetary penalty seems extremely excessive"

Divide by 11, that's the number of counts.
posted by Mitheral at 5:50 PM on July 22, 2006


Yeah it sounds not proportionate to the crime, but that's because you evaluate it by measuring the punishment according to your morals : for instance if he killed a baby, you may have considered 55 too little and maybe you would have asked for lifetime or death penalty.

What troubles me is not the punishment of the "criminal" , not nearly as much as the prevention or containment of -effects- of crime. Suppose another unethical businessman escaped with data and damaged people in the list...would you bother inflicting him 150 years , knowing that he could never repay the damages if he worked 500 years ? If jailing that businessman build a false sense of security the problem is not in jailing the criminal, but in not giving the criminal opportunities.
posted by elpapacito at 5:51 PM on July 22, 2006


Not very. He's not being charged with violation of a license (which, afaik, is a civil matter) but of unauthorized access to a computer as far as I can make out.
posted by kaemaril at 5:52 PM on July 22, 2006


55 years is the maximum sentence given for the crime he is charged with, computer trespass, times eleven. That's the crime you would be charged with if you broke into the stock market and started changing the prices (I'm sure you would be charged with other crimes in that case as well) Or if you were to hack into Visa and steal everyone's credit card and sell it to the Russians.

It's very unlikely that he would actually be sentenced to 55 years, even if given the max, the sentences could be served concurrently, so he would be in jail only 5 years. also it's possible (and likely) to sentence him to far less actual time. I think it's likely he won't serve any time in prison, but I'm not sure.
posted by delmoi at 5:54 PM on July 22, 2006


The 55 years thing is the same kind of BS USDOJ crap like when they claimed they found 92 pounds of LSD or whatever.
posted by delmoi at 5:55 PM on July 22, 2006


55 years might be excessive, but this is clearly criminal intrusion. Guys like this are scum.
posted by caddis at 5:56 PM on July 22, 2006


Warning: Reading this comment means you are a doody-head.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:03 PM on July 22, 2006


Notice: doody-heads are required to send me $10.
posted by eriko at 6:11 PM on July 22, 2006


Ok. Can you provide me your bank routing code and account # for me to direct deposit your $10, eriko?
posted by Justinian at 6:51 PM on July 22, 2006


The post's description of the case is extremely misleading. The indictment alleges that the defendant broke into a members-only database using another user's login information. That's a lot more than just "clicking on a eula."
posted by brain_drain at 6:58 PM on July 22, 2006


Nobody will ever be imprisoned for clicking on a EULA. For failing to comply with the EULA, though, perhaps.
posted by waldo at 7:19 PM on July 22, 2006


11 counts? Sure, he logged into the database 11 times over 10 distinct days, but some of the logins were less than 10 minutes long, some are repeated connections on the same day when the system was probably flakey. Sure, there is one where he's logged in for over a day, that's worth a charge or two. But I think delmoi is right, 11 counts with 5 years each sounds rather inflationary to me. Just like someone who downloads an album off p2p would be given 15 counts of piracy, one for each track, and $10000+ in fines. This DOJ counting is insane.
posted by purple_frogs at 7:26 PM on July 22, 2006


No, man. He totally belongs in jail, with the rest of the hackers, whores and druggies.
posted by Kwantsar at 7:39 PM on July 22, 2006


So, that's 10 dollars to eriko, and 10 to Greg. DAMMIT!
posted by graventy at 7:54 PM on July 22, 2006


kwantsar--
The guy at the front of the mob, yelling 'thief, thief' the loudest--is generally the thief.
posted by hexatron at 7:54 PM on July 22, 2006


"You could get up to 55 years," is what high-priced criminal defense attorneys tell their scared white-collar clients, so that these clients will mortgage their houses and cash out their retirement accounts to fund their lawyer's fee.

And then, when the client gets probation, as is almost a foregone conclusion in this case, they feel like they got their money's worth. "I was looking at 55 years in prison and my attorney got me probation!"

Chumps.
posted by jayder at 8:13 PM on July 22, 2006


Metafilter: I HATE THIS FUCKING INTERNET THING! I KEEP LOSING MONEY!
posted by stenseng at 8:31 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]


Bailey runs a business in North Carolina that markets databases to people interested in marketing to physicians, dentists, lawyers and other professionals.

He sells lists of email addresses to spammers. Hang him.
posted by swell at 8:57 PM on July 22, 2006


VIOLATIONS:
18 U.S.C. ยงยง 1030(a)(2)(C),(b) and(c)(2)(B) (intentionally accessing and attempting to access a protected computer without authorization and obtaining information for purpose of commercial advantage and private gain - 11 counts)


Cracked a private database, obtained usernames/passwords god knows how, collected personal information of professionals who had entrusted that to the victimized organization, and then sold that information for cash money to people who weren't as smart as he was.

Lighter. Short hairs. You know the drill.
posted by dhartung at 9:07 PM on July 22, 2006


"You could get up to 55 years," is what high-priced criminal defense attorneys tell their scared white-collar clients, so that these clients will mortgage their houses and cash out their retirement accounts to fund their lawyer's fee.

Yes, blame the lawyers. It's not like this guy did anything wrong, right?
posted by oaf at 10:54 PM on July 22, 2006


mr_crash_davis writes "Warning: Reading this comment means you are a doody-head."


Homo writes doody ?

We return you to a decent discussion after I clap my hands *CLAP*
posted by elpapacito at 3:19 AM on July 23, 2006


I would like to put on a banana suit and light myself on fire, any suggestions?
posted by oddman at 5:14 AM on July 23, 2006


Have a water hose nearby, or do it while you're jumping off a roof holding some other guy.
posted by dog food sugar at 5:59 AM on July 23, 2006


Wrong thread ?
posted by elpapacito at 7:18 AM on July 23, 2006


purple_frogs: Well, that's actually how the criminal justice system works. The prosecution says, "combined on all counts, I can put you in jail for the rest of your life." The defendant says, "Let's make a deal, I'll plead guilty to two counts and you drop the rest." The prosecutor gets a notch on his/her belt, the defendant gets a much shorter sentence, and almost everyone is happy. Something like 95% of all felony charges are resolved through a plea bargain.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 10:25 AM on July 23, 2006


I would like to put on a banana suit and light myself on fire, any suggestions?

Isopropyl doesn't burn very hot, but you really can't see the fire. For drama, use gasoline, you get that lovely red flame and dense black smoke.

Oh, yeah, remember to be surprised that you're on fire.

Fuck, I owe myself *and* Greg Nog $10.
posted by eriko at 12:14 PM on July 23, 2006


Very misleading FPP working. Glad he's getting the book thrown at him.
posted by Revvy at 8:56 PM on July 23, 2006


um...wording.
posted by Revvy at 8:56 PM on July 23, 2006


Hi waldo! How's cville?
posted by Deathalicious at 3:03 AM on July 24, 2006


But, elpapacito, - wait, shouldn't I just address as papcito? um, wait, no, no I shouldn't - you were the one asking for a change in the discussion.
posted by oddman at 4:47 AM on July 24, 2006


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