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Sweden to Make Denial of Service Attacks Illegal
paulraps writes "Sweden is to pass legislation making Denial of Service attacks illegal. The offense will carry a maximum jail term of two years, and is thought to be a direct response to the attack which crashed the Swedish police's web site last summer. Nobody was charged for that, but the fact that it came shortly after a raid on the Pirate Bay's servers was thought by many to be not entirely coincidental. Sweden's move follows the UK, which is even tougher on web attackers — there the sentence can be over five years in prison."
So does this mean that they're gonna arrest Taco, Zonk and Co.?
My blog
As most of the time DOS attacks are performed from outside the country, and therefor outside its juridiction, I doubt they'll even invoke it in court.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Breaking their fingers is a good thought as well.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Don't do your DoS attacks from Sweden or the UK.
Anyone?
Good luck enforcing it and finding the C2 to punish the right person. I know my clan's site has had to move hosts a few times due to DDoS attacks, especially when the last one was pushing 10 Gb/s
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
It damn well SHOULD be illegal, but unfortunately making it illegal isn't going to accomplish anything. Look at marijuana, it's illegal but everyone does it anyways. It will be unenforceable.
Looks like the prison lobby has lots of pull in Europe, too. And in places you'd least expect it. If you want to make lots of money, you know where to invest.
What?
Take a quick look at everything that is illegal in Sweden, take a look at all the laws (seriously, do), and I can tell you that this doesn't really make a difference. Just because you make something illegal doesn't mean it will go away, something they refuse to realize in this country of mine...
DOS attacks are not funny. They should be treated a serious crime. Two years max sounds about right to me. It's a sufficient penalty to not be a "slap on the wrist", but neither is it a draconian "lock 'em up and throw away the key" response.
Apparently, DoS attacks were going to be labled as computer infringement. So, since I'm swedish, I can compromise your server just by loading your web site quick enough, while you guys still need to actually get into my server! This law makes it so much easier to be a cracker around here!
How do you suppose they'll handle compromised systems, proxies, or VPNs? If I root someone else's system and am knowledgeable enough to cover my tracks how do they propose to track me down? The FP also mentioned the Slashdot effect. How do you think they could handle a network of web pages which, when visited, all make requests from the targetted server (similar to pay-per-click scamming)?
the NPG electrode was replaced with carbon blac
Too bad they don't understand that the Internet is a consequences-free zone.
You can do just about anything on the Internet and are safe from prosecution. Why? Because the Internet crosses international borders and we all know that international law enforcement is just about impossible. No two countries have the same laws, the same penalties or even agree that the same things are criminal acts.
So, Sweden can pass all the laws they want to, but it will have no effect unless every country on the planet agrees that DDOS attacks are a criminal act with at least two years in jail being an appropriate penalty this will have no effect.
What is likely to happen is they will track some stupid show-off bragging script kiddie to Canada where it will be declared that they aren't going to extradite because it would bruise the delinquents ego. Or, the perp will be tracked to Romania where the response will be "So?"
Under the right circumstances, the US would probably even shield a perpetrator.
No, unfortunately for many people the Internet is destined to remain consequences-free for a long time to come.
Geez, so now it's illegal in Sweeden to crash people's websites! What's gonna be next, a law against blowing up mailboxes?
...does that mean it wasn't illegal up until now? That's actually more surprising to me.
Of course it runs NetBSD. BTC: 1NT7QvbetmANwaMzhpVL6
so who are they going to arrest? the bots?
This seems like a very reasonable maximum sentence. I am sure I can get 2 years for interferring with someones lawnmower or hairdrier in most jurisdictions. So I'm not sure this is even newsworthy. In fact.. I'm quite suprised this isn't already included in some kind of mischeif law thats already on the books and has been on the books for the past 500 years.
Its basically always been illegal to screw around with someone elses machinery.
No one has a right to their *own* opinion. They have a right to the TRUTH.
They're already interference with private property, DDoS attacks are illegal. They may not be specifically outlawed, but make no mistake, they are by no means legal.
MEF
As the internet continues to be extended to provide vital services (including access to emergency services etc), making denial of service illegal makes sense.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
People who get charged with DUI's and other more grievous crimes don't even necessarilly end up in prison for the first offense. Sending people to prison for over 5 years for taking down a website is absurd. It's something that should probably be dealt with via stiff fines. In most cases it's just a frikkan' website. In most cases no ones life or well-being rely on it... perhaps a separate more severe punishment like prison time could be reserved for those public service type sites that might exist with a greater purpose...
At least the 'maximum punishment' of 2 years they are seeking does not seem too severe. If that maximum sentence isn't abused, and used only for those repeat offenders who just don't learn it seems alright...
I think they mean they're making DDOS attacks more illegal. I can't believe that such destructive behavior was previously legal, nor do I believe that merely passing a law will have the slightest effect on reality. I mean, I'm frequently amazed at how stupidly U.S.-centric our Congress is when it passes laws regarding Internet crime, but I guess such thinking isn't limited to just our government. Practically speaking, such a law is likely to encourage more and more damaging attacks, just to show how ineffectual it is.
... nah, they're not that smart.
Personally, I think that government (any government) would be better off quietly diverting sufficient resources to law enforcement to enable them to catch these assholes. Throwing down the gauntlet by passing more legislation with much fanfare is just stupid and serves no real purpose. Unless they're being sneaky and trying to attract the DOS lightning to make it easier to nail the perpetrators
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
... we can no longer use the term "the server is borked".
Anybody want a peanut?
It has been illegal, just not in the same sense as it now will be, as now it will be covered by the law regarding computer intrusion. The DDoS attacks against the police's website last year were filed under "taking the law into one's own hands" (egenmäktigt förfarande). Which is a bit nebulous of a category for it.
I am very sceptical that this law will have any real effect. Just some sable rattling to give an illusion that the government is in control of these things.
while true; do eject; eject -t; done
Heh...I read this as "Sweden to Make Dental Service Attacks Illegal". No comment........
Quite a bit of assembly required, actually....
The difference between Slashdot and digg is that there have been surveys showing that most people digg stories without even reading them. Also, considering that digg has hundreds of stories per day and Slashdot has about three to five, there are a LOT more stories on digg to distribute all that traffic. I'm willing to wager that the Slashdot effect is still worse than the digg effect, and will be until digg is a large factor larger than Slashdot.
I'm willing to wager that the Slashdot effect is still worse than the digg effect, and will be until digg is a large factor larger than Slashdot.
That wasn't the case when one of my sites made the front page of Slashdot, Digg and Reddit on the same day. In terms of the number of hits, Digg had the most, followed by Slashdot and then Reddit. I don't recall off-hand the absolute values, but I remember Digg bringing about 30% more hits than Slashdot. I remember that because it surprised me. I didn't realize how popular Digg actually was.
The Slashdot hits were distributed over the course of a day. The Digg hits, on the other hand, came within the course of two hours. After that, they dropped right off. The story must have left the front page at that point.
Of course, this being /. I didn't read TFA but any country where if I stagger into a bar already drunk, they deny me service and throw me out physically and _they_ get charged for it is alright by me!
I don't therefore I'm not.
What is just briefly mentioned in the article is that conspiracy to make a DOS attack will be punishable. It seems like a very vaguely defined crime and because the tough sentences it would give the police search warrants way too easily. Technically to be a suspect all you need to have is a computer - what else kind of evidence could there be before an attack is actually committed?
inmate one:hey
inmate two:yea, what are you in for?
inmate one:I murdered my family. You?
inmate two:... DOS
IKEA is an abbrevation for Ingvar Kamprad Eltmaryd Agunnarryd (the first two are the names of the founder and the two second are the name of the farm he grew up at and the parish of said farm). IKEA is not a word in Swedish.
How about a MINIMUM of two years in prison?
Aren't DoS attacks already illegal by way of tort law?
http://outcampaign.org/
They're not illegal already ?
Don't they fall under some sort of Don't be an asshole common-law ?
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
Correction: It is an acronym, not an abbrevation.
Probably the news was on Digg earlier, resulting in a massive influx of visitors. You say that Slashdot was responsible for less visitors, but maybe that was because some Slashdot readers had already seen the story (hours) earlier via Digg?
/. users, because Digg often has stories faster (or so I am told, I myself only visit Slashdot).
It would be interesting to see how many people regularly visit both sites. I think that people who often check Digg, will RTFA even less often than regular
Firehed - Unfortunately, thanks to medical breakthroughs, common sense is not as common as it once was.
The attack on the police homepage was nothing but a very simple javascript function on a HTML page, constantly reloading a large JPEG on www.polisen.se. The URL was then spread on a large discussion forum (namely flashback), which made everyone upset with the piratebay raid contribute to bringing down the site. Good luck charging thousands of people with broadband connections for visiting a webpage.
If you link to copyrighted material but do not host it, you're an accessory to the crime of illegally distributing the material. Story (in swedish), the actual document (pdf, swedish).
The problem with prosecuting the Pirate bay is that someone must be found guilty of a crime for another to be guilty of being an accessory to thet crime. The users of Piratebay are not suspected of a crime carrying a sentence of two years or more, meaning the police can't get their IP numbers, meaning they can't be charged with a crime that Piratebay could be an accessory to.
Your surely not trying to claim that people read digg for the comments..? The mind boggles!
I would have thought you'd have a higher percentage of people RTFAing on Digg, simply because there isn't really anything else they'd want to do there Certianly applies to all (five or so) people I know who visit Digg.
This sig all sigs devours
Make it illegal, so people stop doing it. Why didn't anyone ever come up with the idea of making Terrorism illegal, then we'd have saved a TON of money and quite a few people would've saved their lives, for example by not going to Iraq?
What do you mean, it doesn't work? It has to, or they wouldn't pass a law making a DDoS illegal. Or do you mean they would pass an unenforceable law, because
a) DDoSs are by their very definition international
b) Drones are used that don't even know they participate
c) Finding and disabling those drones is pretty much impossibe because of a) and b)
d) all of the above
?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
They won't be arrested for anything, since they probably didn't do nothing.
However, no one mentions the political change that occurred this autumn.
After twelve years of social democrats (left) we (swedes) now have the so called "alliance" (right) since a few months back.
Even though the social democrat's minister of justice (Tomas Bodström) was just the same kind of openly left and inner right kind of parrot that Blair is -- repeating whatever baloney the monkey in the white house spits out, there were never any successful arrests or trials for file sharing, torrent-sites, etc. However, it'll be interesting how much the new political power will bend over to thy mighty George Christ and arbitrary corporate organizations.
I'm sure we'll see more laws (like this), since that's the easiest way of showing political will and competence.
Personally I might move to Russia or China where you are a hell lot more free to use your hardware as you wish. Sure it has draw-backs, especially in China with the firewall and everything (and they kill their citizens, just like in the US), but what the hell... What country isn't completely fucked up today anyway? Either we have some dictators thinking they know best for everyone or we have the "democratic" corporate dictatorships (which some people refer to as "the free world")...
I think what you get is what you give, and the authorities today, give an awful lot of shit to their citizens...
What is the definition that they will use for Denial-of-Service attack i.e., when would I be considered under a DoS, if my site completely goes down? Or if I see a 50% drop in performance? Also, who will they arrest? If I had a spyware/malware on my PC without my knowledge would I be considered an offender? These things probably need to be crystallized too.
It is important to note that the sentence term of 2 years was not chosen at random. When a crime carries this sentence as a possiblity, the Swedish police gets greater powers to use surveillance, wiretapping and raids to secure evidence such as the identity of person using a specific IP address.
Also, if you catch someone in the act of committing, or appearantly fleeing from the scene of crime of, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of more than two years, you may make a "citizen's arrest", that is grab and hold a person until the police arrives.
Now imagine a geek neighbourhood watch!