[4205] in WWW Security List Archive
Re: DON'T DO THIS! (please!) Re: i'm sorry :)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (tpw0@gte.com)
Thu Jan 30 11:51:58 1997
From: tpw0@gte.com
To: vadillo@apu.rcp.net.pe (Enrique Vadillo)
cc: jim@telecnnct.com (Jim Harmon), jmr@rmisp.com,
www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu, Firewalls@GreatCircle.COM,
tpw0@ns.gte.com
In-reply-to: Your message of "Wed, 29 Jan 97 13:44:21 EST."
<m0vpezd-00011uC@apu.rcp.net.pe>
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 97 10:03:52 -0500
Errors-To: owner-www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu
Chain letters are illegal because they often required the sender to
include money and threatened dire consequences if the recipient did
not participate. This made it a form of extortion, a crime under USA
law. In this particular chain e-mail message I see neither of these
two things so I doubt that any US law was broken.
As for the Internet, it was established initially as US Department
of defence project called the Arpanet using a protocol developed by
a US computer consulting firm, BBN. It was later turned over to
the US National Science Foundation to administer as a network
connecting institutions of higher education so it had originally
been a decidedly American institution. Of course it has grown far
beyond the borders of the US and that I think is a very good thing.
Each country that now participates in the Internet I am sure tries
to apply it's own laws to its use and I can cite intances of this in
Great Britain and Germany. I expect Peru will do the same if it
hasn't already. This is not a matter of US ruling anything. I
doubt that anyone can rule the Internet now. It is too big and too
diverse.
> ---- Jim Harmon wrote ----
> > #1! Chainletters are Illegal (snailmail) in the United States. Why
> > should they be legal on the Internet?
>
> And who said the Internet should be American-like?
>
> I just guess The United States are not the rule in all things.
>
> I agree with you on the basics of chainletters, though.
>
> Enrique-
> --
>
--
Tom Witt |
GTE Laboratories, Inc | "Let tomorrow take care of itself.
phone: (617) 466-2582 | Today has trouble enough of its own."
email: twitt@gte.com |
GTE Telemail: T.Witt | Jesus of Nazareth
