[Fwd: Re: [unisog] RIAA engaging in DOS?]

[Craig I. Hagan]

> Even so it will remain up for interpretation by the courts before we know how 
> far it will reach.

which makes it very interesting.

> My problem with this one is that it might make it legal for anyone to do a DOS 
> attack against anyone else that they think are violating their copyright. There 

Issue: anyone with more than "a" computer providing a service.

While this is true, consider something even more insidious:

most companies have rather large piles of machines providing email (lets think
exchange for now). Those machines easily fit the definition of a peer-to-peer
file sharing network, both betwixt themselves and with arbitrary clients who
attach to them.

So, should this pass, it is very likely that you could email some copywritten
material to a company, and, perhaps end up with a strong belief that it may
have gone beyond what you expected (potential violation of your copyright). you
would then be authorized by this law to break into that mail server and
manually protect your copyright as long as you do not cause any economically
measurable collateral damage and/or you notify the appropriate government
agency.

think of the interesting things you can discover *while* protecting your
copyright.

basically, this amounts to legalized industrial espionage/sabotage.

> What can the hosting company or person do? Request the attacker to please hand 
> over their address and data after the fact.

the single point provider is protected by the law, since service is provided by
"a" computer. its when "a" becomes more than one that things get murky.


-- craig



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