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Russian Snared By The FBI Sentenced To 3 Years

Mark Cantrell writes "Vasiliy Gorshkov, one of two Russian crackers who were arrested in November 2000 after the FBI broke into their computer systems were sentenced Friday. Taking pity on Gorshkov's family, they sentenced Gorshkov to 3 years in prison and a fine of nearly $700,000 USD. They also mention how a U.S. judge found that the FBI wasn't breaking any laws in breaking into a Russian computer system, despite the fact that they were breaking a Russian law doing so. So apparently, it's ok for Americans to break Russian law if they're in the U.S., but not ok for Russians to break U.S. law, even while in Russia."

4 of 454 comments (clear)

  1. One rule for one... by caluml · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    C'mon guys.

    Russians are cool.
    I've never net one I didn't like.

  2. FP by Professor_Oak · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    FP

  3. Hypocritical? Americans? NO WAY!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    "We must invade Iraq..They invade countries without UN approval, and now they're not following sanctions from those invasions!!"

    "So, you're saying we should invade Iraq without UN approval, because they've invaded countries without UN approval?"

    "Exactly!!"

  4. Re:No wonder everyone hates the USA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    After reading this letter, you will never again be able to trust Mr. Tevis "Baby Fucker" Money, and you will see with crystal clarity the way that his intellectual dishonesty, mismanagement of facts, and outright lies make quasi-brutal, belligerent loudmouths seem ready for sainthood, in comparison. Let me start by stressing that I am not attempting to suppress anyone's opinions, nor do I intend to demean him personally for his beliefs or worldviews. But I do claim that I must open students' eyes, minds, hearts, and souls to the world around them. Note that someone has to be willing to knock some sense into him. Even if it's not polite to do so. Even if it hurts a lot of people's feelings. Even if everyone else is pretending that he is a paragon of morality and wisdom. I hope it will not disappoint you to learn that he thinks it's good that his positions manipulate public understanding of obstructionism. It is difficult to know how to respond to such monumentally misplaced values, but let's try this: There is no place in this country where we are safe from his adulators, no place where we are not targeted for hatred and attack. Tevis wants to encourage insensitive jerks to see themselves as victims and, therefore, live by alibis rather than by honest effort. Such intolerance is felt by all people, from every background.

    While there's no use crying over spilled milk, while we do nothing, those who identify political and religious groups that are his political enemies and re-label them as "anti-democratic, vicious Tevis "Baby Fucker" Money clones" in order to justify operations against them are gloating and smirking. And they will keep on gloating and smirking until we express our concerns about his bitter equivocations. Any meaningful analysis of the situation must allow for the fact that his cause is not glorious. It is not wonderful. It is not good.

    If one could get a Ph.D. in Mandarinism, Tevis would be the first in line to have one. Rhetoric aside, he possesses no significant intellectual skills whatsoever and has no interest in erudition. Heck, he can't even spell or define "erudition," much less achieve it. Although chimpanzees can be convinced to wear clothing, understand commands, and even ride bicycles (if well paid for their services in bananas), it would be virtually impossible to convince Tevis that we must reach out to people with the message that he doesn't care about accountability in our public systems. We must alert people of that. We must educate them. We must inspire them. And we must encourage them to allay the concerns of the many people who have been harmed by Tevis. He can fool some of the people all of the time. He can fool all of the people some of the time. But Tevis can't fool all of the people all of the time.

    All this aside, what he is doing is not an innocent, recreational sort of thing. It is a criminal activity, it is an immoral activity, it is a socially destructive activity, and it is a profoundly iconoclastic activity. I doubtlessly maintain that pestilential, unsavory savages who destroy that which is the envy of -- and model for -- the entire civilized world will, hopefully, eventually be replaced by people who believe in freedom, justice, and the pursuit of personal growth. My views, of course, are not the issue here. The issue is that the reason he wants to sensationalize all of the issues is that he's totally ignorant. If you believe you have another explanation for his ribald behavior, then please write and tell me about it.

    You know what I mean? One may very well question whether blaming gloomy frotteurism on sordid, malicious blackguards is one of Tevis's favorite themes. Still, most people will eventually be convinced that inasmuch as I disagree with Tevis's accusations and find his ad hominem attacks offensive, I am happy to meet Tevis's speech with more speech and, if necessary, continue this discussion until the truth shines.

    It's precisely because I hate Tevis's constant misuse of historical analogies that everybody is probably familiar with the cliche that as soon as Tevis's proxies give voice, in a totally emotional and non-rational way, to Tevis's deep-rooted love of antiheroism, they will have destroyed the basis for their own existence. Well, there's a lot of truth in that cliche. The reason I'm writing this letter is that there must be justice for all of us or there will be peace for none. This is the flaw in Tevis's scribblings. He doesn't understand that Tevis doesn't use words for communication or for exchanging information. He uses them to disarm, to hypnotize, to mislead, and to deceive.

    Actually, you shouldn't let him intimidate you. You shouldn't let him push you around. We're the ones who are right, not Tevis. Now, I don't mean for that to sound pessimistic, although those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Of course, if Tevis had learned anything from history, he'd know that his legatees say, "We can all live together happily without laws, like the members of some 1960s-style dope-smoking commune." Yes, I'm afraid they really do talk like that. It's the only way for them to conceal that Tevis's agendas are a house of mirrors. How are we to find the opening that leads to freedom? I don't pretend to know the answer, but I do know that Tevis is the embodiment of everything petty in our lives. Every grievance, every envy, every ugly ideology finds expression in Tevis "Baby Fucker" Money. As stated earlier, if we let Tevis level filth and slime at everyone opposed to his objectives, then greed, corruption, and solipsism will characterize the government. Oppressive measures will be directed against citizens. And lies and deceit will be the stock and trade of the media and educational institutions.

    I am not going to go into too great a detail about xenophobic hackers, but be assured that he is absolutely determined to believe that his decisions are based on reason, and he's not about to let facts or reason get in his way. I, not being one of the many cocky amnesiacs of this world, must add my voice to the chorus of those who deal with Tevis appropriately. It's a pity. If the past is any indication of the future, he will once again attempt to promote the lie of classism. As I've said before, he somehow manages to get away with spreading lies (doing the fashionable thing is more important than life or liberty), distortions (his solutions enhance performance standards, productivity, and competitiveness), and misplaced idealism (he is a bearer and agent of the Creator's purpose). However, when I try to respond in kind, I get censored faster than you can say "thyroparathyroidectomize".

    Tevis loves the truth only as long as it doesn't conflict with his memoranda. Let me try to explain what I mean by that in a single sentence: Vulgar apostates often prove their point by relying on untenable conjecture and unverifiable hearsay. I always catch hell whenever I say something like that, so let me assure you that we must remove our chains and move towards the light. (In case you didn't understand that analogy, the chains symbolize Tevis's unrestrained beliefs (as I would certainly not call them logically reasoned arguments), and the light represents the goal of getting all of us to investigate the development of gnosticism as a concept.) Tevis has recently been going around claiming that my bitterness at him is merely the latent projection of libidinal energy stemming from self-induced anguish. You really have to tie your brain in knots to be gullible enough to believe that junk.

    Look, he can't possibly believe that laws are meant to be broken. He's stupid, but he's not that stupid. I have seen what Tevis is capable of, and I am afraid. I am very afraid and I am very angry. In short, Mr. Tevis "Baby Fucker" Money prefers to see problems talked to death instead of solved. What you really need to do to be convinced of that, however, is to study the matter for yourself. I'll be happy to send you enough facts to get you started. Just write to me.