On Thu, 28 Jul 2016 10:48:47 +1000, Mark Andrews said:
As soon as a transaction takes place, conspiricy to harm <X> by <Y>. If the DoS actually occurs you can add additional charges for the actual actions.
If the claim is that a law has been broken, you have to show that <Y> is actually a crime in the jurisdiction involved. If it's a civil claim, in general only <X> will have standing to actually file suit. That's a big chunk of the problem - the gamer who ticked off another gamer and got DDoSed doesn't have the knowledge, time, or resources to file a claim that will actually accomplish anything, and nobody else can file the claim on their behalf.
This is no different conceptually to hiring a thug to take a baseball bat to a place. You can be charged for consipiricy to commit a crime even if the crime does not occur.
Bringing a baseball bat to a place isn't usually in and of itself illegal. Thug A may bring a bat to someplace, but absent evidence that Thug B will then use said bat for nefarious purposes, you're still left with nothing. You have to draw *all* the dots, Mark. :)