Slashdot Mirror
Teen Sentenced for Releasing Variant of Blaster Worm
ScentCone writes "Minnesota teen Jeffrey Lee Parsons got a year and half for releasing a Blaster variant. The lightweight sentence was due, said the judge, to the parents' neglect. Quoting the judge: 'It's not a healthy thing to lock yourself in a room and create your own reality.' Which means most slashdotters basically have a get out of jail free card."
I resent this sterotype that I "lock myself in my room and create my own reality".
Im playing World of Warcraft: surely thats Blizzards trademarked reality?
Maybe Their Charity, the Lord Protector, will assign him to tranlate old MS-DOS textbooks.
18 months in a Minnesota prison may only seem like 2000 years. Maybe his cellmate will be like that guy from Fargo...
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Don't forget MMORPG players, masturbation addicts and D&D fans...
Who is more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?
He going to have an interesting "first date"
...his first girlfriend experience will not work out as planned?
'It's not a healthy thing to lock yourself in a room and create your own reality.' Which means most slashdotters basically have a get out of jail free card."
Don't you mean a "locked yourself into jail already" card?
Why didn't his parents get some time in the klink, if they're contributory in their neglect? And why does "try a child as an adult" make any sense at all? He was 17 when committed the crimes - the "child" treatment acknowledges that children have a chance to learn from their corrections *differently* than adults, for whom it's usually too late to form their social attitudes. Children can be educated, while adults usually must be intimidated with punishment. Kids don't get "mercy" because we're "nice"; they get different treatment because it works better on them, with less cost and risk to us. Meanwhile, the adults at Microsoft, who wrote the malware that his Blaster exploited, have learned that Microsoft profits from security holes, and we'll never see the end of them.
--
make install -not war
'It's not a healthy thing to lock yourself in a room and create your own reality.'
But it is healthy to lock YOU in a cell to create your new reality!
"Jeffrey Lee! Stop writing malicious code and get a life!"
"And take out the trash!"
I try to lock myself in a room with my computer, but my wife keeps getting in.
Web Design Tips
When did Slashdot math change it so 18 months in jail is like getting no jail at all?
"He will still have to pay restitution to Microsoft and to people whose commuters were affected in an amount to be determined at a hearing set for Feb. 10."
"The judge imposed three years of supervised release following his prison term, during which Parson can only use computers for business and education - not video games or file-sharing or hacking."
Come on. He's not getting off easy. He didn't do anything irrepairable, why would more jail time change things?
I am personally glad that people not yet 18 -basically children- can get away with doing stuff like that.
Except... those children can ruin businesses and careers. I know, if no machine was ever vulnerable, it could never happen. But, truly, this is just like 14 year old kids who drop rocks off of bridges onto the highway, just to see if they can hit a windshield. Being older than 10, and not able to see at least a couple consequences of your actions is pretty much of a defect (or, indeed, the sign of some seriously loser parents).
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
You know, the thing that really pisses me off is the fact that whenever companies start using a technology, they make everything that the scientists and engineers who don't work for them illegal. In the meantime, they release products (like MS Windows) that are totally insecure. I don't advocate releasing viruses--especially script kiddies--but it seems like more an more things are going to be illegal to give businesses a tool to punish those who reveal the flaws in their shitty products. Soon Nmap will be considered a terrorist tool used to infiltrate networks. Maybe MS can succeed in making all of Linux illegal, since it was put together by a bunch of European commies anyway. That is the attitude of the Bush administration toward Europe anyways--just hope it doesn't whittle Linux down.
"Which means most slashdotters basically have a get out of jail free card."
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<head>
<voice id="Homer Simpson">
WooHoo!
</voice>
<voice id="Mr. Burns">
Excellent!
</voice>
<voice id="Ralph Wiggum">
I think I broke my wookie.
</voice>
</head>
Sugapablo
You knew this was coming as soon as you saw his picture...
Behold the comparison.
I should have known they'd be good for something. Too bad I had them killed all those years ago.
Kids do stupid things. I know I did my fair share of stupid things when I was younger. Now I consider myself a highly moral, good standing citizen of society, with great future prospects. But if I had been put in jail for one of the silly things I did when I was younger, my life today would probably be a disaster, and to society's detriment.
...if he got sentenced for violating the copyright of the original myDoom...
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
You really think this is worth wasting a productive life over?!?
I guess the reason that I got rejected for this story is that I thought the sentance was oppressive, and this submitter felt it was lightweight. Get out of jail free card?? How about felony speech?!
Surely, there was some ground that both got the point home to him well before prison. Were they worried about Anarchy breaking out all over?
I know, if no machine was ever vulnerable, it could never happen.
Which is a bit like saying that breaking and entering is the homeowner's fault for using windows. No windows means no part of the wall is easily breakable, so no one can get in.
before surfing to Slashdot to check the headlines.
I remember seeing this kids picture when he was busted, and now that i've read his story, I've gotta say I feel sorry for him.
Not so much for his punishment, as much as his life thus far. His parents did get blamed by the judge for being neglectful, but I don't think that begins to explain how bad it was.
The guy was afraid to go outside. You can see in his photo that he's rather large, and not at all the typical 19 year old (He was what? 17 when he got busted?). It just looks like another case wherein a kid was an outcast, primarily due to a bad home situation, and rather than have friends or relatives to help him through, he retreated into his room, and kind of lived in his own world, which the parents did nothing to prevent, or try to help him outta.
Just sounds like a sad story... Kinda like you feel after watching one of those HBO Specials like "Black Tar Heroin" or something. It sucks that he is where he is, but what sucks worse is that there's lotsa other people out there in similar situations.
The Skatenigs said it best w/their debut album: "Stupid people shoudn't breed!".
Geeks are prime targets. 18 months is more than enough time, heck 18 hours is more than enough time to be victimized. Some people get abused before they are even tried.
See this website http://www.spr.org/
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
I can't understand squirting out some kids and then letting them run rampant and not having any responsibility for a minor's actions.
First off, he's 17, and is an adult in most ways that count. At 17, he can't really hide behind the shield of your parents. He should be held responsible for most or all of his actions.
Secondly, I doubt his parents would realize he was making a virus even if they were looking. As far as they probably knew, he was programming, learning computers. He didn't get busted for drugs or playing with guns, which means his parents were doing something right.
Obviously they weren't perfect parents, but no parents are perfect.
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
Kids are NOT responsible for their actions, that's why they can't vote
But where do you (personally) draw the line? Candidly, I'd rather they could vote at 16, but not drive until 21. But a 17 year old (really, now) should be able to understand basic stuff like: millions of people rely on something that's not bulletproof, and this malicious thing I'm about to do will really, really screw with them. It's not that he doesn't know that, it's that he doesn't care. Same could be said about a 16 year old that decides to torch an apartment building, or throw rat poison in someone's food.
To some extent people like that are just plain broken... but cognitively, a 17 year old should be plenty functional enough not to pull crap like this, and should know it. If not, based only on his age, he sure as hell shouldn't be allowed to go out solo and drive 2500 pounds of metal across railroad tracks that carry, say tanker cars of chlorine. Of course, we trust 16 year-olds to not kill people, at the expense of some serious consequences. Can't we trust them not to trash people's businesses?
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
I'm not sure how it works is his state, but 18 months in California generally works like this:
- 1-3 months in County jail awaiting transport
- Remaining 15-17 months can actually be served as 1/3 time, given good behavior. That leaves about 5 -6 months left
Total time: around 7 or 8 months.
Which sentence are you talking about for Mitnick? The one that made him famous was a 7 years stint from 1995 to 2002.
As a general rule I think that the idea of prisons as a whole (which mind you are relatively new) are a very odd idea, "Wait we're going to put a bunch of criminals in the same building right?" "Yep" "We're not going to segregate them based on what they did?" "Nope" "And when they get out we're hoping that they turn into perfect citizens, after spending the last x number of years surrounded by criminals"\ "Ayup, that's the theory" I just don't get it, but I imagine that this kid might think twice before trying it again. Can't see it stopping anyone else though.
Get a free Ipod!
WAIT A MOMENT.
You've got a woman, and you're locking her out?
I mean, I try, and try, and try, and for some reason I can't even get one to step in my house.
And you're locking her OUT....I am so confused....
"18 months in a Minnesota prison may only seem like 2000 years."
Yet oddly enough 18 months in a Minnesota prison will seen alot like 18 months in Minnesota.
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
I doubt his parents would realize he was making a virus even if they were looking.
He used a hex editor to change the name of the virus and put his "handle" in. That's it. He didn't write a variant of the blaster worm, he changed a couple strings in a binary.
Black and grey are both shades of white.
Like Kevin Mitnick?
Yes, his crimes were a bit more on the border and less damaging, but he was in jail longer, convicted older, and still seems to have gotten on with his life pretty well. I'd hardly call the guy useless.
I figure this kid has at least as good a chance of turning out a normal guy as Mitnick. (Though only time will tell if he has the moxie for it)
When you're a fatty little weakling computer geek forced to toss the salad of a guy named Bruno who's been pumping iron since he was convicted of bashing his girlfirends skull in because he found out she was going cyber with some fatty little weakling computer geek.
while you're at it, we wouldnt need locks on our door. When you get a chance read Brave New World.
Windows? Man, what a poor choice for an analogy in this situation. :)
Besides, you're missing the entire point of the justice system. It's not there to get revenge on people who've caused damage. I mean sure, you can claim eye for an eye is justice but that view's been going more and more out of favor. Reforming people is generally more successful; not to mention, in the end more benefitial to society. As for preventiveness, I'm sure any amount of actual oversight - from their parents or otherwise - is probably enough to deter most 'script kiddies'.
Sure, there is a lot of debate around the legal age of reason.
Sometimes the law draws an arbitrary line (voting age, army age, driving age) and sometime it prefers to judge in case by case (as in murders, trials as an adult).
If legal age for prison can fluctuate, then the legal age for voting, drinking, driving, and the army should also be decided on a case by case basis.
- On a more serious note, I'm not sure our judges should really be handing out extra-light sentences to people they believe are deranged. SAT classes? Scary stuff. This seems like a slap on the wrist for someone who caused such a tremendous amount of damage. It sets a bad example for other script kiddies.
Really now, we don't know all that much about the details of this person's life. The judge has a lot more information on this person's background and is better able to decide than those of us in the "peanut gallery". It was noted that he had "psychological troubles" due to parental neglect.Also, " Pechman said she was sentencing him at the low end of the range because although he was 18 at the time of the attack, his maturity level was much younger than that.
"I learned a lot about you," she added. "Many of the mental-health problems from the household you grew up in contributed to this problem."
The interesting thing is that he could have been a Slashdotter. His malicious attacks were against a Microsoft Windows update Web site as well as the Recording Industry Association of America Web site, two favorite "whipping boys" of Slashdotters.
Sig cancelled due to lack of interest
what exactly did he do to "release it to 40,000 computers".. it's a worm. he modified the copy that infected his machine and it went on doing what it does. Had he not done that 40,000 computers would still have been infected just not with his modified version.
He probably took too much credit for it thinking he wasn't going to get caught. If he had a better lawyer he probably could've walked clean
bite my glorious golden ass.
A key example of this from my old CF reserve unit: We had young men in there of 18 years of age who could go places and die for their country *but who could not have a beer in the mess!*. So, it was okay to give them a firearm and let them call in artillery, but Dear Lord don't let them touch a light beer. (Well, combining the two is a bad idea, but that's not really what I was getting at....)
Of course, this just led to the 'blind eye'. Many of us felt if you were old enough to wear the uniform, take the oath, and kill and die for your country, you could at least have a beer from time to time.
-- Mal: "Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious."
My 20-year-old former next door neighbor (a habitual criminal and the one person in the neighborhood I wouldn't gladly invite to brunch with my folks) was recently convicted on 4 counts of auto theft. The cars he stole were worth a total of about $25,000. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison (actually 4 5-year terms, but served concurrently). How does this compare to the kid who got a year and a half for releasing a worm that infected 50,000 computers? Let's do the math.
For purposes of this discussion, I'll assume that the car thief totally demolished the cars he stole, for a total damage of $25,000. That makes his sentence one year for every $5,000 in damages.
The LovSan worm infected about 50,000 computers. Let's assume that each computer cost $1,000. Let's also assume that the machines were out of service for 2 days as a result of the worm. Given an average PC lifespan of 4 years (1460 days), that's 1/730 of the computers' lifespans, or about $1.37 in damages per computer infected. Multiply by 50,000 computers, and you have $68,500 in direct damages.
That doesn't count the costs of removing the infection, lost productivity, etc. etc.
The kid got off light; a just sentence would have been 12 years or more, IMHO. Of course, that'd only be 4 years in jail before he got paroled.
Then again, I think my punk-ass neighbor got off light, too. If I'd caught him trying to steal my truck, he'd be serving his sentence in a hospital bed, eating and crapping through tubes.
"Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
I'm surprised nobody's commented about Microsoft being treated as the primary victim in this case. The worm attacked tons of machines across the entire Internet, not just ones owned by Microsoft, yet the offender is ordered to pay restitution to Microsoft. They're not the victim here! In fact, I'd go so far as to say that their shoddy programming and quality control contributed to the situation (as it has many times over for various other bugs since Blaster). Why are they receiving restitution when they could more easily be considered liable?
be he's obviously not stupid.
He's obviously stupid. His actions served nobody, and landed himself in jail. That is not intelligent behaviour by any measure.
"Parson, 19, of Hopkins, Minn., pleaded guilty in August to one count of intentionally causing or attempting to cause damage to a protected computer." Protected computer? I thought his virus went after a Microsoft O/S?
"Versions of the Blaster worm, also known as the LovSan virus, crippled computer networks worldwide. The government estimates Parson's version inundated more than 48,000 computers."
That proves the efficience of Microsoft Service Packages.