Re: publicly available resources and the law

[Technical Incursion Countermeasures <lists () ticm com>]

ahh a good fun topic :}..

ok AFAIK this is how it is interpreted normally..

Port scanning is quite rightly not a crime - it equates to rattling door
knobs and trying windows.. not a felony in itself - however it is
suspicious activity. This is the key...

Now if during our port scanning we happen to find a wide open NFS port and
access it - then we have committed a crime - because by port scanning we
have shown intent - it is no longer an accident that we just happened to
push on the door and fall in.

Now I know US law is different to Aust law  - but I'm guessing that the
intent provision is still there - i.e that to be convicted of a deliberate
act - the prosecution must show that you indented to commit the act.

Cheers,
Bret

PS and just in case someone is stupid enough to take what I said as legal
advise - its not :}
Technical Incursion Countermeasures 
consulting () TICM COM                      http://www.ticm.com/
ph: (+61)(041) 4411 149(UTC+8 hrs)      fax: (+61)(08) 9454 6042

The Insider - a e'zine on Computer security 
http://www.ticm.com/info/insider/index.html