The Warez BBS
What he did
David Lamacchia set up an internet BBS to allow people to
trade copyrighted software. The U.S. Attorney General estimates that
millions of dollars of software was traded.
What he did NOT do
David Lamacchia is not accused of trading any software himself.
He is not accused of owning any pirated, copyrighted software. He
did not profit from his BBS.
Attorney General Quote
"In this new electronic environment it has become increasingly
difficult to protect intellectual property rights. Therefore, the
government views large scale cases of software piracy, whether for profit
or not, as serious crimes and will devote such resources as are necessary
to protect those rights."
Defense Quotes
"The U. S. Attorney and his staff are trying to brand a
(SYSOP) as a criminal, for what *other* people place on, and take off of,
a computer system that the SYSOP creates and maintains but does not control.
... Obviously, the people who run the telephone company and who publish
newspapers should be watching this case carefully, lest they find themselves
criminally responsible for misuses of their communications media and systems."
Outcome
The judge dismissed the case before it could come to trial,
saying that the wire fraud statute of 1952 was the wrong law to use against
the defendant. The Attorney General decided not to appeal the dismissal,
and intend was going to request Congress pass new laws aimed specifically
at this behavior.
Latest News
The SPA has sued, and then dropped the suits, several ISPs
for "contributory copyright violation.
http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/dldf/