Slashdot Mirror
Does Hacking Grades Warrant 20 Years in Jail?
While there have been many students who decided they would rather change their grades than come by them the usual way, the punishments for the most part have been pretty reasonable. However, the latest chapter in this type of behavior finds two culprits facing a $250,000 fine and 20 years in jail based on the number of charges leveled against them. "The guys have been charged with "unauthorized computer access, identity theft, conspiracy, and wire fraud." Obviously, these guys did a bad thing, but it's hard to see how the possible sentence matches with the crime. Of course, it seems unlikely that any judge would give them the maximum sentence, but even hearing that it's possible just for changing your grades seems ridiculous."
So you propose lawlessness?
Gotcha. Oh wait, you wants laws, but just the ones you agree with. Who the hell hired you to be mr. law smarty pants?
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
So hacking into a computer to change a grade is some how less of a crime than hacking to a computer to say steal user data or "just because"? It's a frigging crime! They broke the law. Do you not get that? Let's play "whatif"...
1. Guy robs store to get money to pay the rent.
B. Guy robs store to get money to buy drugs.
What's the difference between the two?
Nothing! Nada! The store was still robbed in either situation. Doesn't matter why it was robbed. The law was broken either way.
This is one of those "if you have to ask you'll never understand" scenarios. Return to sender.
"people caught for possession of minor amounts of marijuana, the punishment is more harsh than violent crimes."
Link? Then STFU noob
No, these punks didn't just change their grades. Anyone can see that their new grades were identical to the grades of other students who created their own grades legitimately by their own work. These punks copied those other students' grades. So, like copying those students' CDs, these punks stole their grades, from other students. Those stolen grades are worth a great deal in the marketplace, entire careers of incomes from the victims.
20 years is too good for these thieves. They should have to spend their sentences listening to each week's Top 50 pop songs, endlessly repeated on commercial radio stations.
--
make install -not war
Oh, Stevie, get over it with your self-pity already. Haven't you yet figured out that every single one of your problems is because you have created them yourself? You are the problem, Stevie. That's why nobody will hire you. There is no grand conspiracy just to defame you--there's just you. Everybody knows that you are someone who is full of shit, you don't know what you're talking about, you have an inflated ego, and you're worthless.
So give it up Stevie. Take the hint. Don't you see? We can do anything we want to you at any time. There's nothing that you can do about it. Look at your comment history you fucktard! We just modded your last three posts Troll just because it makes us laugh to tell you how worthless you are.
KILL YOURSELF!!! That's what we've been trying to tell you for the last ten years and you JUST WON'T GET IT!
Do you know why we modded your last three posts Troll? Just because we can! Because we are "The Man" who is keeping you down. There is no big conspiracy out to get you, Stevie. There's just us. And we can find you wherever you go on the 'net. It doesn't matter what nick you choose, what board you're on... the fact that you're so completely stupid, that you never know what you're talking about, that you're always wrong will always identify you to us.
Your best bet, Stevie, is to KILL YOURSELF because, just like the last ten years, we will follow you wherever you go. We will hunt you down. We will ride you into the dirt and destroy anything you undertake. Even if you ever do get a job we will call them and pretend to be your "parole officer" or your "counselor" or your "psychologist" and tell them that you're a child predator, that you're a pedophile, that you're a nutcase fringe terrorist.
You have no chance, poor little Stevie. KILL YOURSELF!
When Ferris Bueller changed the number of days missed...same thing..funny and cool.
And today, it will get you 20 years in jail????? Lord, the terrorists have won when we now have zero tolerance for things. When did people forget there is a difference between mischief, and harmful acts?
Truly this is fixing a swiss watch with a sledge hammer, wrong tool for the job at hand.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
My take:
Let's stop pretending that hacking grades is this heinous crime against society, alright? Degrees in the US amount to nothing but a job coupon. Teaching in the US involves going through the motions in the most symbolic way possible. I'm a high school drop-out autodidact, and have made some money in the past writing everybody else's term paper. If you insist on the shining light of absolute justice, about 3/4ths of all degrees currently in circulation would be revoked because the holders didn't earn them and sure as hell didn't live up to them.
Then they'd have to go back to lying on their resumes about the bogus degrees they don't have to get the jobs they'd qualify for anyway. Where they'd be trained by people like me, who earned seniority from the ground up through demonstrating actual on-the-job knowledge as opposed to flashing some expensive paper in front of human resources or getting promoted to the top because daddy got them in.
We're doing the equivalent of charging into the most Mafia-ridden, moonshining, bootlegging city during the height of prohibition and busting some kid for giving away cough syrup.
But yeah, sure, make an example of somebody right before the next election. I don't give a rip either way. Kevin Mitnick would smile knowingly.
There isn't any difference. Someone stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family should be treated as someone who robbed a bank. Stealing is stealing, no matter what the difference is. The lazy bitch/son of a bitch should get a damned job instead of stealing. If you do the crime, you should do the time