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Microsoft Drops Blaster Author's Fine
bevo noted that Microsoft has dropped their fine against the author of the Blaster worm that DDoS'd Microsoft's web sites and hijaacked 50,000 computers. 225 hours instead of a 500k fine. $2200/hour seems like a good deal to me ;)
This was the guy who modified the Blaster worm. The original author never got caught.
To all the people screaming "What, MS is part of the government now?":
The judge determined that the convicted owed MS damages of about $500,000. MS at their own discretion opted to allow him to to do community service in lieu of cash. As long as the agreement is acceptable to both parties, the judge will generally go with it.
this is getting old and so are you
blog
MS didn't fine the kid, the court ordered him to pay 500k in restition. MS offered to let the kid sweat it off instead of paying cash. This is just a typical shitty slashdot writeup.
I want a new world. I think this one is broken.
It's not time for the tinfoil hats- yet. Microsoft isn't so close to the government that they can choose his sentence, but they could, if they wanted, ask the judge to reduce the sentence to certain terms that they think are fair.
Remember though, IANAL
I think it'd be great for this guy to get out in the sun and clean up graffiti! Maybe it'll build his character enough that he'll realize that making worms to smash Microsoft PCs isn't a cool thing to do- or is it?
Silence is golden... and duct tape is silver.
This was "Tee kid". This guy didn't write the original Blaster worm that "wreaked havoc". He took the original one, modified it and spreaded it. IIRC, he got caught by leaving references to his nick of various sites "Tee kid" and leaving the URL to his website in the worm (I can't remember well). This guy was really stupid.
What happens anyway in the US legal system if someone is fined a $500,000 when they have a few hundred bucks to their name, and no or low income?
An oversimplified answer is they file for bankruptcy protection, lose virtually all their posessions besides their primary residence, means of transport to work and other essentials and personal effects of no monetary value, need to have all significant expenses in the future approved by a judge and so on till they emerge from bankruptcy. Then they spend about 10 years unable to get a credit card or bank loan because their credit rating is so low.
RTFA. Parsons was to have paid the $500,000 as restitution to Microsoft because the worm launched a rather feeble DDOS attack on Microsoft's websites. As such, Microsoft has the authority to waive that, or to make arrangements. Also, with no job, assets, or future, Parsons would have had no means to make the restitution payment, and would likely have had it dismissed in bankruptcy proceedings. Microsoft would never have seen a dime. Instead, Microsoft gets to look charitable and magnanimous while the kid gets to avoid bankruptcy. Sounds like a win-win deal to me.
bance.net
Oh, to have mod points! That was funny!
John
Try cleaning a 7 year old Win98 machine.
A windows machine that is also a weak hardware performer can take hours to clean. A lot of the processes can be automated, but it depends on how you bill your hours. So hours and hours of constant attention to clean a machine, not probably - but automated processes can still take a lot of time. And some system infections are really a pain in the ass and do require hours and hours. Just count yourself luck if you don't deal with those kinds of machines with any regularity.
Now, a properly administrated machine should take mere minutes to recover from a good backup and backup protocol. That I agree with.
This kid still has to do 18 months in prison! 18 months! 13,128 hours! (linked from the same site)
18 months is almost 10% of the time this kid has even been on the planet!
Microsoft just helped him out by letting him live his life once he gets out of prison instead of being in debt for the next 40 years.
I bet it's extremely hard for a convicted felon to work off a $500,000 debt.
--
Fairfax Underground: For residents of Fairfax County and Northern Virginia
Only in some states like Florida, I think. In others they can still repo your house and auction it.
I was hearing something on the OJ Simpson trial the other day which was being rehashed now that the lawyer died. AFAICT OJ "Magic Gloves" Simpson moved to Florida after the $30M civil suit he lost to avoid having his NFL pension garnished to pay for the judgement, and I think that Florida law also forbids your "primary residence" from being r00ted.
I might be wrong though.
It's been said Bill Gates makes over $1,000 every ten seconds. So it's more like $81 million for 225 hours.