[KLUG Members] Re: legality

[Peter Buxton]

On Mon, Jul 23, 2001 at 12:32:50PM -0400, Mike Williams was only 
   escaped alone to tell thee:

> >I felt sorry for the owner of the PC so I left a text file in the
> >c:\windows\desktop\ folder named [SECURE YOUR SYSTEM.txt] with
> >information on how to secure their broadband connection and remove some
> >of the worms I noticed on their system.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

The proper course is to notify the ISP, and possibly your own ISP so your
complaints have greater weight. You were probably not the only user
inconvenienced by this rogue system.

Trespass onto computers may or may not be a recognized tort under Michigan
law, but probably is under Federal law; if you were on the phone
wires/interstate packet network, you were operating under a Federal
jurisdiction (remember, most Federal crimes are prosecuted in state courts).
The obligation to trespass to prevent a greater evil is valid, but you had
access to two entities obligated to deal with a rogue system on their
networks with lawful Terms of Service agreements to give them the authority
to cut irresponsible parties off.