daemon@decwrl.UUCP (02/08/84)
From: castor::covert (John Covert) Computer Sightseers Philosophy The act of dialing into a computer system is no different than walking up to the front door of a business and asking for a tour. If the computer system dialed into allows tourists, that is, it allows use of its resources if the caller is either not required to enter any identification or is allowed to identify himself as "Guest", "Tourist", "User", "Demo" or some such generic name, then the caller should feel welcome to use the resources, to take a tour of the machine. However, if the caller resorts to fraudulent methods in identifying himself, that is, attempts to gain access to the system by claiming to be someone he is not, this is improper. This is like walking up to a business with a false ID badge in order to gain entrance. Searching for computer systems by dialing numbers in sequence is also no different than walking down the public streets of a town knocking on doors or dialing telephone numbers in sequence taking a poll or selling a product. Unless there are clearly proven attempts by the caller to commit fraud, this activity is no crime.