vBCom
ISP Rep
BBC Hacks 22000 Internet Connected Computer Users - Poster MarkJ (Thursday, March 12 2009)
Link To News Item
Link To News Item
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Yes but like BT the BBC are above the LAW of the land bet the government will do nothing, the police.
Time all companies were mad responsible for their actions and made to compensate the customers, computer owner for the invaision.
Yes but like BT the BBC are above the LAW of the land bet the government will do nothing, the police.
BBC programme broke law with botnets, says lawyer
The programme has said that the activity would only be illegal if those behind it had 'criminal intent', but Struan Roberrtson, a technology lawyer with Pinsent Masons and editor of OUT-LAW.COM, said that this is not true.
"The BBC appears to have broken the Computer Misuse Act by causing 22,000 computers to send spam. It does not matter that the emails were sent to the BBC's own accounts and criminal intent is not necessary to establish an offence of unauthorised access to a computer," he said.
"The Act requires that a computer has been made to perform a function with intent to secure access to any program or data on the computer. Using the botnet to send an email is likely to satisfy that requirement. It also requires that the access is unauthorised – which the BBC appears to acknowledge. It does not matter that the BBC's intent was not criminal or that someone else created the botnet in the first place," said Robertson.
...
Though the activity is likely to have been technically illegal, Robertson said that it is unlikely that the corporation will be punished for it.
"The maximum penalty for this offence is two years' imprisonment. But it is very unlikely that any prosecution will follow because the BBC's actions probably caused no harm. On the contrary, it probably did prompt many people to improve their security," he said.
http://www.out-law.com//default.aspx?page=9863
Click then ordered its slave PCs to bombard its target site with requests for access to make it inaccessible.