On Sun, Mar 30, 2003 at 11:55:44AM -0500, Larry J. Blunk wrote:
If it takes a few months for the ISP to cut you off for not paying your bill, that is their own fault. Concerning someone going to jail for running NAT in breach of TOS, I find it supportable. There is precedence set with the Cable companies (using equipment to allow service to be used on more than tv's than allowed by the cable company would be equivelent here).
Sigh. My point is this is a question of extremes and punishment commensurate with the "crime". I can understand how one could consider NAT to be "theft" under a terms of service agreement. I can even understand how one might think this should be a criminal offense (although I would disagree - consider how many ISP's consider NAT to be perfectly acceptable). However, going beyond a misdemeanor offense and a fine - advocating prison time and felony convictions - is something I simply can't understand or find supportable.
[I think this is starting to step slightly outside the bounds of nanog, but it's still linked.] Look it's very simple. If you steal something, you go to jail. That's really nto hard to understand, and the reason it doesn't happen more often, is because prison systems are already too full of people convicted of more serious crimes. You've already agreed to the statement that the act can be considered theft. If you steal, you go to jail. Simple. If you steal, you're a criminala because, you've commited a crime.. Simple. Aquiring a service outside the bounds of any existing contract with the intention of not paying for it, is also fraud. I can't see why you have a problem sending someone to jail for commiting a crime. The same works the OTHER way. If you violate federal or state laws on computer crimes, you're a criminal, you go to jail. I don't know the statistics on how many people are convicted annually under various pieces of computer-misuse related legislation, but I'm sure someone does. -- Avleen Vig "Say no to cheese-eating surrender-monkeys" Systems Admin "Fast, Good, Cheap. Pick any two." www.silverwraith.com "Move BSD. For great justice!"