mp@ganehd.UUCP (Scott Barman @ Univ. of Ga.) (05/27/84)
<bug bug bug bug bug bug bug bug bug>
I don't know why I am doing this. I tried to avoid it but here goes:
Wether or not unc!tim did anything wrong, there is one basic concept
people bring up and it flies by like an F-14. There are now laws covering
computer crime and/or fraud that many state institutions must abide by.
North Carolina is one of the states that passed one of these very wordy,
laws. One clause in this law defines lawful usage. A person is given
a userid to do a certain thing with the computer. If that person
does something that has not been defined in the reson for giving a
person access, that is breaking the law. Since UNC told Tim not
to post something to the net by saying he is not allowed to use the
Usenet Software or by saying they do not feel that he should be using
the phone service for this means with the userid given to him by UNC,
then he broke the law.
I am not condeming or condoning Tim, Dr. Brooks, UNC, NC laws (I used
to live in Charlotte, NC, I know what it's like :-}), or all the comments
made about this incident. Please realize that there are some problems
working for the government (Fed, state, or local) that did not surface
during these discussions. Tim's case can be filed in computer fraud or
misuse. Please think of that before commenting further.
P.S. I do use this machine to access the net with the permission
of the systems manager of the NE Health District in Athens, Ga.
I do thank him for it!
--
Scott A. Barman USPS: Department of Computer Science
UUCP: {akgua, gatech}!ganehd!mp The University of Georgia
DDD: (404) 542-2911 415 Boyd Graduate Studies Research Ctr.
Athens, Ga 30602