<nettime> software-installing sysadmin in georgia goes to trial...

[Amy Alexander <plagiari@plagiarist.org>]

as we round out the holiday season, a timely reminder that federal
governments aren't the only ones with Naughty computer laws - state
government laws can be just as Naughty.

it's been easy to get caught up this past year in the rush of bad national
computer laws enacted, threatened, or enforced in the name of anti-piracy,
anti-terrorism, anti-anti-adobe, and possibly even auntie em. however,
lets not forget our unfortunate friends who got busted under even
dumber, but less media-prominent state laws. for example, the poor schmuck
in georgia who installed distributed computing software (software that
works on lots of computers, the way setiathome does) on machines he
administered at the college where he worked. he didn't actually "hack"
anything, but all the same, later this month, the state of georgia might
be putting him in prison for 120 years.

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/300

that's right boys and girls, next time you install a screensaver on a
machine where you work, think of those less fortunate software-installers,
who might be spending the next 120 christmases making license plates.


-@

-- 
plagiarist.org
Recontextualizing script-kiddyism as net-art for over 1/20 of a century.


#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net