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| Jeffrey Lee Parson faces up to ten years
imprisonment |
Jeffrey Lee Parson, the Minnesota teenager arrested in
connection with a variant of the Blaster worm, has been accused by
prosecutors of having "a long history of causing damage over the
internet".
Prosecutors claim that Parson, who went by the nickname of
"teekid", admitted to investigators that he had launched attacks
against the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA). Parson was arrested on 29
August 2003 in connection with the W32/Blaster-B worm. The
author of the original, and much more widespread, W32/Blaster-A worm is
still unidentified.
W32/Blaster-B included a section of offensive text hidden inside
its code directed towards Microsoft, Bill Gates, and the anti-virus
industry.
"If found guilty, Jeffrey Lee Parson faces a maximum of ten
years imprisonment. It has to be questioned whether such a severe
sentence would really be in the public's interest," said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "The original
Blaster worm caused a much more considerable scale of damage and
infected millions of computers around the world, and yet its author
continues to walk free. If Parson did write W32/Blaster-B then he
should be punished, but the sentence should reflect the level of
harm he actually caused rather than treat him as a scapegoat."
A report by Monica Soto Ouchi of the Seattle Times paints a sad
picture of the difficulties Parson and his parents have faced since
the arrest.
"All those considering writing and distributing a virus should
consider carefully the implications their actions may have on
others, including their close family," continued Cluley.
Jeffrey Parson's trial is scheduled to begin on 17 May.
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