full-disclosure - If Lycos can attack spammer sites, can we all start doing it?

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Message-ID: <200412021719.iB2HJ4Jl007365@turing-police.cc.vt.edu>
From: Valdis.Kletnieks at vt.edu (Valdis.Kletnieks@...edu)
Subject: If Lycos can attack spammer sites, can we all start doing it? 

On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 22:22:30 EST, KrispyKringle said:

> The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
> (http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/1030_new.html) forbids one to,
> among other things, ``knowingly cause the transmission of a program,
> information, code, or command, and as a result of such conduct,
> intentionally cause damage without authorization, to a protected
> computer,'' which pretty much covers viruses and other malware. This
> would appear to apply to the Lycos software as well, given that it
> ``causes damage without authorization to a protected computer.'' So that
> is the key point, one that has not, to my knowledge, been tested in court.

The point that Lycos is probably betting on is the "causes damage".  If their
rate-limiting works, they're *NOT* actually causing a DDoS - if the site is
still responding, claiming "damage to the computer" is quite the reach.

Damage to the bandwidth bill from your provider - that's something else.  Not
sure that's a criminal offense, but I'd not be at all surprised if the ISP
left holding the bag for the unpail bill (what - you think the spammer will
actually pay for the bandwidth? ;) might go after Lycos on the "your actions
cost me money" theory of civil tort.
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