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Botnet Spammer Gets Just 18 Months For Being Odd
itwbennett writes "Thirty-three-year old Scottsman Matthew Anderson was sentenced this week to 18 months in prison for orchestrating a malicious Trojan campaign in 2006. The reason for his relatively light sentence? He apparently wasn't seeking to maximize profit like any normal, red-blooded hacker. Also, his timing was good. His arrest in June 2006 predated by a matter of months the Police and Justice Act, which would likely have resulted in a harsher sentence. By comparison, David Kernell, who snooped in Sarah Palin's email, got a year in prison."
How long does a year last in your world?
Who took down numerous big name websites, was sentenced to eight months of "open custody," one year of probation, restricted use of the Internet, and a small fine.
Lets face it, you can't properly gauge the sentence with the crime - too many other factors come into play that the judges are supposed to try and account for. Intent, remorse, etc etc - all play factors.
Thirty-three-year old Scottsman Matthew Anderson was sentenced this week to 18 months in prison for orchestrating a malicious Trojan campaign in 2006.... By comparison, David Kernell, who snooped in Sarah Palin's email, got a year in prison.
Matthew Anderson and David Kernell live, committed their offences and were tried in different countries to one another. Why on earth would you expect their sentences to be comparable?
Next.. libel laws in England harsher than in the US! Owners of internet gambling sites that are lawful in other countries face imprisonment in US! Producing the same drug can get you anywhere from a governement contract to a stern warning to imprisonment to execution depending on which country you pick. Hello, welcome to the world.
It's spelled 'Scotsman', not 'Scottsman'.
A little proof-reading wouldn't go amiss.
I suppose we all forget how many people went to jail even back then. I knew at least a half-dozen, personally. PS did people use the word 'phracker'? I don't seem to remember that one. You sure you didn't just invent it?
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
However, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. His heart is in the right place. What he needs is better guidance.
Shweet jumped up jebus.
His heart was not in the right place. He ran a botnet distributing malware. Malware for data theft. Surveillance on people using infected PCs. Infected by him. He knew precisely what he was doing.
But yes...lets glorify the poor, misunderstood dude working in his mom's living room.
'neato stuff' indeed. YGBSM. You know...there are ways to learn how to do that without abusing innocent civilians.
"Crossed the line" is an understatement. And this gets modded up, or recommended for a job.
As a practical, personal matter, I'm not particularly bothered by spam either. But try to estimate the total amount of resources that go into creating, transmitting, filtering and storing all the spam that has ever been sent. I have no idea what the answer is, but surely those resources would have been put to better use solving other problems?
Does it bother you when a stoplight is red for 30 seconds longer than it should be? It only costs you a few seconds of time, and a few drops of gas, each commute... I think it's equally reasonable to be bothered by both of these things.
They have this view that, when it comes to computers, if they CAN do something, as in it is technically possible for them to do it, that makes it ok to do and means it ought to be legal. Breaking in to a system that has a weak password or lacks a security fix is fine in their view because that person is "stupid" and "deserves it". Of course none of them would be ok with someone breaking in to their house, even though like basically everyone they live in houses with known security vulnerabilities.
Hence why they are ok with a guy like this. They are ok with someone who breaks in to others' systems and abuses them because their ego says that only stupid people can be victims and the victims deserve it.
It is a sadly common view on this site.