R. T. Morris (suspected Internet worm propagator) charged?

[John Kennedy]

In article <11727 at cgl.ucsf.EDU> rodgers at maxwell.mmwb.ucsf.edu (R. P. C. Rodgers) writes:
>I heard a brief one-sentence report on the BBC World Service several
>days ago to the effect that U.S. Federal authorities had formally
>charged R. T. Morris, Jr., with crimes in connection with the Internet
>worm of November 1988.  Could someone with accurate details kindly post
>them to the net; readers of this newsgroup were very actively involved,
>both in fighting off the worm and (afterward) in debating the ethics of
>the affair.  Thanks in advance...
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are excerpts reprinted without permission from the July 27
Annapolis, MD _Capital_, a daily newspaper near Robert Morris's
hometown of Arnold:


       ...Robert Tappan Morris, Jr., 24, was charged with
       violating the federal computer crimes statute by gaining
       unauthorized access to computers across the contry,
       preventing authorized access to them and causing losses in
       excess of $1,000 [sic].

       The one-count indictment was released by a federal grand
       jury in Syracuse, N.Y., where Morris is scheduled to be
       arraigned Wednesday by a U.S. magistrate.

       No trial date has been set, said Thomas Guidoboni, Morris'
       attorney. If convicted, Morris faces a possible five-year
       prison term and $250,000 fine.

       He also could be ordered to pay restitution to the military
       bases and universities affected by the virus, according to a
       statement released by the U.S. Justice Department.

       ... "He was working up until a week ago, but the press
       found out where it was and he lost his job," Guidoboni said.
       The attorney refused to say where Morris was working or
       whether the job was computer-related.

       ..."Mr. Morris will enter a plea of not guilty and will
       contest the charges against him.  He looks forward to his
       eventual vindication and a return to normal life."

       ...Mark Friedell, an assistant professor in computer
       science at Harvard University who was an advisor to Morris
       when he was working on his bachelor's thesis there, was
       apalled yesterday by the indictment.

       "I think what Robert did was very irresponsible, but I don't
       think in any way it is the sort of thing you usually think
       of as a felony criminal act," Friedell said.  "It was the
       act of an an immature student, not a criminal."

       Other computer security experts and computer enthusiasts
       agreed that releasing the virus was a juvenile act, and some
       believe he should be punished if he did unleash it.  But
       they don't believe the punishment should be so harsh that it
       would damage Morris' career.

       Some computer security experts said they believe that by
       prosecuting the highly publicized case, the federal
       government hopes to send a message to computer hackers.

       "It's important to demonstrate that these (computer crime)
       laws work and let other people know that," said Jay
       BloomBecker [sic], director of the National Center for
       Computer Crime Data.

       An important part of the government's case will be to prove
       that Morris' acts were intentional, which is requred by the
       law, said Joseph Tompkins, chairman of the American Bar
       Association's Task Force on Computer Crime in Washington.
__

"If I let them have 40, they'll do 45.  If I let them do 45, they'll do 50.
If i let them do 50, ..."  - Barney Fife

-- 
John Kennedy                     johnk at opel.UUCP
Second Source, Inc.
Annapolis, MD