[KLUG Members] Fwd: FC: City of Battle Creek wants to imprison an anti-spam activist

[members@kalamazoolinux.org]

Adam Williams writes:
>Maybe,  but in reality the "prove malicious intent" concept is bogus.  It 
>still works perfectly for intimidation.  There are twelve corporate 
>lawyers, here is me.  Regardless of proof they are more likely to win an 
>argument, and I'm likely to be out cash either way.
A lot of judges see this for the pocket-emptying harrasment that it is.
They award courst and legal fees to the party with deep pockets. Presence of
12 corporate lawyers is generally taken as conclusive proof of deep pockets.

>Actually this problem with the Lotus software has been known about 
>*forever*.  Lotus bas been lying down on the job.
Right, and if that can beshown as part of the defense, it eases things a lot.
 
>>they were probably using that "other" popular operating system and ended up
>>having to reboot the machine.
Not "popular"... pervasive. There's a big difference. This is not mere 
sematic hair-splitting.

>I ordb (and others) check myself regularly.  So far I've never had a user 
>notice anything was going on.  And I wouldn't have if I hadn't peeked in 
>the maillogs while it was happening.
Yeah, none of these tests ought to be destructive. The last time I did ordb,
the only way I knew was by browsing the server log.

John Bridleman writes:
>Can you be held liable for entering my house if I forgot to lock it?
Generally yes, there is a crime called trespassing, and a closed door 
on private property is commonly taken to prohibit entry. If the door
is unlocked, there are some charges that could not be brought (defense
being simple), like "breaking and entering". TRespass may even be ignored
in some case, like running into a house to save someone.

But a mail server isn't a case of trespass waiting to happen. The prseumption 
here is that you can use the server to pass mail on to intended recipents that 
you believe are going to get your messages. There are laws on the books that 
you're violating by "abusing" that server, but failure in normal use is not
considered abuse.
							Regards,
							---> RGB <---