He commited several crimes, AOL specifically chose to have him prosecuted under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. My guess is for two reasons. One because it carries the harshest sentencing potential (criminal, meaning not just fines but jail time as well) and second because convictions under this act make an example. This is new highly publicised legislation, passed as a deterent more than anything else. Spammers have to be afraid, of laws that legislation like this enacts. If not, the legislation is worthless and not a springboard for passing other acts, creating more law with stricter guidelines and heftier consequences.
The problem they ran into is that the meat of the law is about fraud and deception. As in, not fully disclosing the nature or source of the good or service being presented in the email. It's alluded to in the story "The judge,... said it was not clear that Smathers had deceived anyone -a requirement of the new law."
No doubt he violated the terms of employment in his contract, any NDA he signed as well as non-compete contracts he agreed to. None of that is criminal however, it falls under civil law and the best they could do is take him to court and ask for damages. As for if he stole something, every/. reader knows it is never that clear with intellectual property. He didn't steal anything from the users, because they signed away all rights to the data when they signed up, ie it was never there's in the first place they were just borrowing it from AOL, who can do with it pretty much whatever they choose, under the terms of the User Agreement. As for if he stole anything from AOL any attorney could easily make the argurment that he in fact did not steal anything -which is criminal- he simply used the information inappropirately and profited from it, which is not criminal in this case, but again falls under civil law.
There is a local GO club here in Berkeley and there are parks where you can "pick up" a game in San Francisco. I was turned on to go about a year ago watching four people play in a restaurant in Santa Cruz. I was fascinated and they noticed me and invited me to play. I was walked through my first game right then and there. I too have tried every possible method of learning the game. Having others teach you is definitely the way to go. The GO club is an amazing resource. Smart, talented players who are very happy to help you figure out the game and teach you good tactics until you can have a better understanding about what makes good strategy.
Like all obscure and geeky things, most people who play are just excited to meet someone who is interested. I have yet to run into someone here, whom upon hearing I was learning, didn't offer their expertise or advice.
I found their online tutorial far exceeded the others.
This was of immense help when I was first figuring everything out. It is written in plain language and lets you do the simplest things over and over again, until you get them, which for me was a the only way to get over that first big hump.
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He commited several crimes, AOL specifically chose to have him prosecuted under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. My guess is for two reasons. One because it carries the harshest sentencing potential (criminal, meaning not just fines but jail time as well) and second because convictions under this act make an example. This is new highly publicised legislation, passed as a deterent more than anything else. Spammers have to be afraid, of laws that legislation like this enacts. If not, the legislation is worthless and not a springboard for passing other acts, creating more law with stricter guidelines and heftier consequences. The problem they ran into is that the meat of the law is about fraud and deception. As in, not fully disclosing the nature or source of the good or service being presented in the email. It's alluded to in the story "The judge, ... said it was not clear that Smathers had deceived anyone -a requirement of the new law."
/. reader knows it is never that clear with intellectual property. He didn't steal anything from the users, because they signed away all rights to the data when they signed up, ie it was never there's in the first place they were just borrowing it from AOL, who can do with it pretty much whatever they choose, under the terms of the User Agreement. As for if he stole anything from AOL any attorney could easily make the argurment that he in fact did not steal anything -which is criminal- he simply used the information inappropirately and profited from it, which is not criminal in this case, but again falls under civil law.
No doubt he violated the terms of employment in his contract, any NDA he signed as well as non-compete contracts he agreed to. None of that is criminal however, it falls under civil law and the best they could do is take him to court and ask for damages. As for if he stole something, every
This would be the best present ever for any occasion.
What an awesome event. I am breathless looking at pictures from the ground!
There is a local GO club here in Berkeley and there are parks where you can "pick up" a game in San Francisco. I was turned on to go about a year ago watching four people play in a restaurant in Santa Cruz. I was fascinated and they noticed me and invited me to play. I was walked through my first game right then and there. I too have tried every possible method of learning the game. Having others teach you is definitely the way to go. The GO club is an amazing resource. Smart, talented players who are very happy to help you figure out the game and teach you good tactics until you can have a better understanding about what makes good strategy. Like all obscure and geeky things, most people who play are just excited to meet someone who is interested. I have yet to run into someone here, whom upon hearing I was learning, didn't offer their expertise or advice.
I will second the suggestion of Kiseido GO site
I found their online tutorial far exceeded the others. This was of immense help when I was first figuring everything out. It is written in plain language and lets you do the simplest things over and over again, until you get them, which for me was a the only way to get over that first big hump.
Good Luck!
Welcome to the Club
Homer: Son, are we going to die?
Bart: Yeah Dad, but we're going to take a lot of innocent people with us.