Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 20:04:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Dan Hollis <goemon@anime.net> Sender: owner-nanog@merit.edu
On Wed, 15 May 2002, PJ wrote:
If it's a crime, someone should have no problem citing the code. If it's not a crime, than I am guilty of nothing and should have nothing to fear.
Do let us know how your portscans of US military networks goes...
There are always going to be people who are going to probe and poke
Are you one of them?
IANAL, but I do know that last year a federal court in the First US District (Washington D.C. and surrounding area, as I recall) ruled that scanning was NOT illegal. It is a court of record and, until reversed by a higher court, stands a a precedent in that district (but not others). As far as I know, there has been no higher court ruling. That said, I guess if you are scanning a system in that district, you have no problems. But you may have problems if the system(s) scanned are elsewhere, though there is no specific law on the subject. The action reviewed by the court was under federal anti-hacking laws which might be construed as covering port scanning. The court held that they did not. R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) E-mail: oberman@es.net Phone: +1 510 486-8634