It was interesting to see that people who are considered to be hero's of the computer industry started by misusing computers doing actions that would be considered criminal in today's world, the reported actions of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs in the article did not fall under the hacker ethics outlined by Steven Levy or within the views of Richard Stallman on free and open access, I know selling of pheaking boxes can be construed a providing free access, but it was circumventing payment for service for self enrichment.
The actions of Aaron did to me, seem to fit within the hackers ethics of Steven Levy
- Sharing
- Openness
- Decentralization
- Free access to computers
- World Improvement
The method used of getting the information from JSTOR may of been dubious in causing problems with performance of servers but his intention was about openness and free access to information.
I agree with the article in that computer misuse laws are not framed fairly and do not consider the background and intent behind the offence. Cyber criminals can steal millions in monetary value and get less punishment that a criminal in the real world committing a similar offence and there are case of cyber criminals getting higher tariffs compared to real life criminals for similar offence.
There is a need in my opinion for the law makers to consider the cyber world and make laws with sensible tariffs that fit in today's world. Cases where cyber criminals can face life in prison for just accessing computers does not fit with murders getting shorter periods. Protection of our personal information needs to be taken seriously and suitable tariffs are required.
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