From: "David G. Miller" <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: "Mikkel L. Ellertson" <mikkel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> David G. Miller wrote:
>> Bruno Wolff III <bruno@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>> Hey, it's the US, anyone can sue anyone for anything. Whether you
>>> could
>>> win would be another question. And even if you won, you probably
>>> wouldn't
>>> make money on the deal.
>> Not saying this is the perfect solution but think about what happens
>> if
>> we start holding people liable for the damages caused by their
>> zombified
>> Windoze box... Right now, they have almost no incentive to firewall
>> their systems, have an effective anti-virus program running, etc. If
>> you could get sued for the damages your box inflicts on others,
>> people
>> who don't know what they're doing might start *asking* their ISP to
>> stop
>> them from doing any harm and let them know if there's a problem.
>> This is as opposed to the current situation where everyone involved
>> sticks their head firmly in the sand (or elsewhere) and decides it's
>> somebody else's problem. Turning a blind eye to bot nets and zombies
>> is
>> just nuts. The idiots who provide electricity and an internet
>> connection to a bot or zombie need to get charged for the pain they
>> allow others to get hit with. They aren't victims; they're part of
>> the
>> problem.
>>
A better idea - hold the company that produced the defective
> software that allows this to happen. After all, they spent how much
> convincing people that all you need to do is "point and click" to
> administer a Windows box... (OK - with what they can spend on
> lawyers and their political clout, you couldn't win in the U.S.)
We don't hold a manufacturer of any other product liable for how their
product gets used. Guns are probably the best example. Although there
have been attempts, gun manufacturers aren't held liable for whatever use
their product is put to. Likewise, as long as a gun owner takes customary
and reasonable precautions against unauthorized use (e.g., a gun safe,
locking away key components, etc.), we don't hold a gun owner liable if
some steals his gun and then uses it in a crime. On the other hand, if a
gun owner doesn't take reasonable precautions and someone gets hurt, they
are not just liable but criminally culpable.
My position is that most if not all of the people providing power and
connectivity (their system is p0wned by someone else) to zombified systems
are not taking "customary and reasonable" precautions to ensure their
computer isn't put to unauthorized use. They should be held liable for
this. They can either pony up the cash for all of the add-ons that
Windoze needs to safely connect to the internet or take the time and
energy to learn how to safely run a Linux or *BSD box.
Who is going to file the first lawsuit against an owner of a zombied system
for sending spam? It should be interesting legal theater.
{^_^}
