FC: Georgia reportedly prosecuting man over distributed.net client

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[David probably means distributed.net, not distributedcomputing.net, which 
is not an active website. --Declan]

*********

Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2001 18:46:25 -0400
To: ip-sub-1 () majordomo pobox com
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: IP: A REAL stupid move by the State of Georgia' University System
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

And here I thought Georgia was sane but it seems , and I have checked with 
David's lawyer,  tis is exactly as it reads. There is no more to this than 
the State of Georgia' University System punishing a professional for the 
reasonable use of unused spare computer cycles and network bandwidth for 
doing SCIENCE   It also seems that much of the claimed "misuse" occured 
during xmas break where computers and network usage are close to zero.

I also found out that the Tenn Valley Authority is doing a similar thing 
against people running Seti on their systems.

Is there any hope for sane behavior  on the part of what I thougfht was a 
progressive state.

Dave


> From: "D McOwen" <dmcowen () bellsouth net>


> Hi,
>
> I didn't know which Lawyer to contact there, I hope you do not mind the 
> multiple contacts.
> My name is David McOwen. I need everyone's help that possibly can. I 
> worked at a school system 2 years ago that is part of the State of Georgia 
> and was the configurator of the computers. They are now prosecuting me for 
> Felony conviction with up to 15 yrs in prison and wanting $ 415,000. They 
> are saying the DistributedComputing.net client costs 59 cents per second 
> for the Internet transmissions! If you or you know anyone that can help 
> please contact my lawyer Mr. David Joyner at cdjoyner66 () aol com , phone 
> number of the Law Firm 770-564-1600 . Beside my life and my family, the 
> future of all that use the Internet and computers is at stake. Don't let 
> them turn the good of computers into something so terrible. If it was so 
> terrible it should be taken away from the world and not prosecuting one 
> individual.
>
> Also we need to know if anyone in the United States or the world has been 
> prosecuted for this. We need to know for sure that they are setting this 
> dangerous precedent, making me an example and everyone is next. They did 
> not give me an opportunity to just turn the client off, they also said 
> that there was no harm done after they turned it off. How can they call it 
> a felony then and looking for nearly half a million dollars! Please help 
> in any way that you can, whether by E-mails or any other support.
>
> Thank you
>
> David McOwen
> 4109 Evian Way
> Gainesville, Ga 30507
> 770-503-7490
> dmcowen () bellsouth net





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