Slashdot Mirror
Felony For Refreshing a Web Page?
therandomw writes "An 18 year-old boy was recently arrested in Ohio for telling fellow students to refresh the schools web page in order to slow down the server. He is being charged with a felony and is currently being held in jail. According to Canton City Prosecutor Frank Forchione 'This new technology has created a whole wave of crimes, and we're just trying to find ways to solve them.'"
Lake High School
http://lake.stark.k12.oh.us/hs/
this one?
Here's a link to a video newstory that provides some more details: http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=18650&si d=45721&bw=
This story has been up on Digg.com for a few hours, the school's website has been down most of the day
Since the school's site is already DDoS'd, here is the Canton Law Dept. Let's see how fast we can take the prosecutor down.
According to the folks at Fark, who got to it before the slashdotting, it only had about 900 hits total. Come on, they crashed the server in NINE HUNDRED HITS?!
It is specifically illegal to incite others to commit a crime.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The activist conservative United States Supreme Court ruling Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad of 1886 claimed that the 14th amendment somehow gave rights to corporations. The idea of "corporate personage" was born. Of course, they have a lot more rights than persons.
. _Southern_Pacific_Railroad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_v
If anyone wants to try and reach the kid (Michael Stone) to offer support, the Stark County Jail's contact info is:
a dore+Ave.+NW.,+Canton,+OH&btnG=Search&ll=40.95199, -81.39827&spn=0.005348,0.013465&t=k
4500 Atlantic Blvd. NE
Canton, OH 44705
Phone: 330-430-3850
Fax: 330-430-3839
Sherriff W. Bruce Umpleby
I can't find the boy's home phone to leave support messages there, although the article mentions that his address is:
13634 Mogadore Ave N.W.
Canton, OH (44685? Google maps finds the address, but USPS's site doesn't)
Which is a nice looking suburban home:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=13634+Mog
South Park pokes fun at sacred cows to make a point. Family guy pokes cows to hear them moo.
Google maps finds the address, but USPS's site doesn't
Well, what you're doing (coverting from an address to a map location) is called geocoding and it isn't quite an exact science. local.live.com points the same address to a location a ways south on the same road. So the house you're seeing is quite possibly not his at all. Oftentimes, the only data to go on is a start address and end address for a long section of road. Then interpolation is used in the middle. So take that stuff with a grain of salt.
Mad Software: Rantings on Developing So
I think the kid could have a case on the grounds of Brandenburg v. Ohio. His speech could only be illegal if it was directed to inciting and likely to incite imminent lawless action. In the case, Brandenburg was a KKK leader who invited a reporter to come see a clan meeting. The reporter taped him referenced the possibility of "revenge" against blacks and jews, and hostilly announced a march on congress. He was charged and convicted with trying to incite violent action, and the courts reaffirmed it, up to the Supreme Court which overturned it under the "intent", "imminence" and "likelyhood" standard for the inciting of lawless behavior.
1) The kid denies intent. That might be a hard sell, but it has potential.
2) Imminence and likelyhood: did any other kids even care about the site? Did anyone follow through? Quickly? That could be a show stopper right there.
South Park pokes fun at sacred cows to make a point. Family guy pokes cows to hear them moo.
http://www.lakelocal.k12.oh.us/lhshome.htm
That Lake High School is just outside of Toledo, OH. The Lake High School in question is near Canton, in the East.
Fnord.
It may not be a big east coast city, but it certainly does have its crime and bad areas in the wake if the steel mills closing. Is Gary Indiana, ~100,000 people, a midwestern town where life moves a little slower? Gary has the highest crime rate in the country. Gary is an extension of Chicago, and Canton is an extension of Cleveland/Akron. Former steel towns are not nice places.
Yes the good old book thrown at this criminal
Date Docket Entry
01-06-2006 COPIES OF COMPLAINT SERVED ON DEFENDANT AND DEFENDANT APPEARRED AND ADVISED OF
CHARGES PRELIMINARY HEARING SET FOR 01-12-2006 @ 3:15 PM
01-06-2006 ON THIS DAY THE DEFENDANT APPEARED WITH 20850-JOHN GIUA ATTORNEY OF RECORD
01-05-2006 BOND POSTED $2,500.00 UNSECURED WITH SUPERVISION OF PTS DUE TO EMERGENCY
RELEASE ON 01-04-2006
01-05-2006 ARRAIGNMENT SET FOR 01-06-2006 @ 9:00 AM
01-05-2006 DEFENDANT ARRESTED ON WARRANT 01-04-2006. TRANSFERRED TO STARK COUNTY JAIL IN
LIEU BOND. FORM 8 FILED
01-04-2006 PROBABLE CAUSE FOUND. REFER TO BOND SCHEDULE FOR BOND INFORMATION BY JUDGE
RICHARD J. KUBILUS
01-04-2006 DEFENDANT'S PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION FORM FILED AND ISSUED
01-04-2006 WARRANT ISSUED ON 01/04/2006; (UNTWN)
01-04-2006 2909.04 (F4) - DISRUPTING PUBLIC SERVICES COMPLAINT FILED
If common sense were common everyone would have it.
The Stark county Sheriff's office had some outdated information in the previous post-- Sherriff W. Bruce Umpleby died several years ago-- here's the updated info: 4500 Atlantic Blvd. NE Canton, OH 44705 Phone: 330-430-3850 Fax: 330-430-3839 Sherriff Tim Swanson I was actually *referred* to the prosecutor to find details on how to donate for the kids' legal fees, though Frank didn't seem to know. The number I was forwarded for the county prosecutor (Frank Forchione) was 330-305-0084 if you wish to contact him for details on the case, and or find out what the heck he's thinking. As a director that deals with *real* security issues regularly, setting this kind of legal precedent is quite dangerous, and would be terrible for the internet community. If there's any EFF types reading this, please post information on how to open a donation fund for the defendant's legal costs, or how to contribute to an existing one.
while true; do wget http://lake.stark.k12.oh.us/hs/ &> /dev/null; done;
Regards,
Steve