[KLUG Members] Re: legality

[Adam Tauno Williams]

>>I'm not ignoring that point at all.
>>I would have never known he's serving files to the entire internet
>>because I WOULD NOT HAVE LOOKED!!!
>>Just the action of probing for open ports or services can get you
>>in trouble.
>Er, I understand everyone's fear here.  But I don't think the law
>should have a "0 tolerance policy" on private citizens, especially

Neither do I "think" so.  But that doesn't really matter.  The laws drafted for
the benefit of corporations happen (maybe by accident) to apply to individual's
computers as well.

>since corporations can trash your privacy to the point of what could
>be considered "criminal" level access to your system with various
>backdoors and spyware (despite any click thru you may have agreed
>to).

Caveat Emptor.  The user has tacitally agreed to this.

Whether this is ethical or good for free society is an entirely diffrent topic.

>Because I once also did leave a file in someone's SMB share.  It was
>text file with an appology for accidently tresspassing onto his
>system.  My dynamic DNS hadn't updated, so I could not SSH into his
>box (which I thought was mine).  I then looked at port 139, which
>was open, did a smbclient NetBIOS list and saw some open shares.  I
>left a text file with the appology and said, "sorry I had hit port
>22 on his system, to make it up, I would gladly help him setup a
>firewall," and left my E-mail address.
>I never heard from him.  Maybe I will someday?

Probably not,  and maybe if he did find it he realized you we're just being
helpful.  In certain circumstances I might do the same thing,  and phooeey on
the law.

But the poster asked about legality,  and I don't want any lurker wandering away
thinking that any of this good will, etc... affects "legality",  because it doesn't.

Systems and Network Administrator
Morrison Industries
1825 Monroe Ave NW.
Grand Rapids, MI. 49505