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Re: Guess what happened!!!

>>>>> "Andrew" == Andrew Brown <a.brown@nexor.co.uk> writes:

Andrew> falk@peregrine.eng.sun.com (Ed Falk) writes:
>> merlyn@stonehenge.com writes:
>> 
>>> And if I had read this posting *before* november 1, 1993 (a day that
>>> will forever stick in my mind), I might not be spending $40,000 (or
>>> more) on lawyers right now.  Or be facing three state felony charges.

>> I can't speak for the rest of the net, but I for one would be very
>> interested in hearing this story.

Andrew> Me too!  Lunch hour wouldn't be the same without a good story...

The only public statement I can say can be obtained from my Perl
mailserver by uttering something like:

	echo @FUND | mail merlyn@stonehenge.com

or whatever the local variants require.  Just get @FUND on a line
by itself, and reply to me. :-)

If I'm convicted, it's a 17-year career ender.  If I get off, I'll
have only spent $40,000 doing so.  I cannot publicly comment on the
chances of a counter-suit.

As to my opinion about Oregon's computer crime laws... in the words of
Beavis: "they suck".  From my attorney's reading of the laws, *anyone*
can be tossed a class C felony (5 years, $250,000 fine) in Oregon if
someone accuses them of "unauthorized" "altering" of nearly anything
computer related.  Trouble is, the code doesn't define either
authorize or alter, and even the judge and prosecution agree that
changing the background color of the screen is "alter".  Yikes!

(The code was originally intended to nail dialup crackers, but it
seems to cover nearly any disagreement now.)

If you can help, help.  If not, thanks for reading this anyway.

# legal fund: $1182.57 collected, $24879.50 spent; email @FUND in body for details
-- 
Name: Randal L. Schwartz / Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095
Keywords: Perl training, UNIX[tm] consulting, video production, skiing, flying
Email: <merlyn@stonehenge.com> Snail: (Call) PGP-Key: (finger merlyn@ora.com)
Phrase: "Welcome to Portland, Oregon ... home of the California Raisins!"
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