Computer intruder gets probation and fine but avoids prison term
Article Abstract:
Robert Tappan Morris will be fined $10,000 and ordered to serve three years' probation and 400 hours of community service, but he will not go to prison. The 25-year-old computer science student received the sentencer for disrupting a nationwide computer network, using a program that copied itself throughout the network. Morris is the first to be sentenced under the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986. Legal experts believe that the government's decision to prosecute Morris, after an eight-month debate within the Justice Department, is a message to would-be hackers that tempering with computers will not be tolerated. The Morris family is pleased that Morris will serve no time in prison, but it is considered possible that Morris will appeal the conviction. Morris refuses to comment on the case.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1990
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Student found guilty in computer jamming
Article Abstract:
Robert Tappan Morris was found guilty of violating the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by developing a program that interfered with the operation of thousands of computers nationwide in Nov 1988. Morris maintains that he never meant the program to cause such widespread harm, making only one copy on each machine, hidden secretly in the network. Instead, a programming error caused the program to copy itself widely through the system, causing DEC and Sun Microsystem networked computers to jam. Experts have estimated that about 2,500 to 6,000 computers were involved. Morris faces up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
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