Robert Harker wrote:
>
> The legal case for a "Welcome to ...." banner is just like a welcome
> mat on your door step. If a criminal enters the front door, even if it
> is unlocked and open, with out your permission and steals something,
> it is still breaking and entering and they go to jail if caught.
In NJ, there is some work (having been a witness to a case...) in the
courts of 'contributory liability', where the victim, through their own
negligence, is held partially liable for the criminal acts of a
perpetrator.
>
> I have never heard of a *REAL* case of a "Welcome to ...." banner
> affecting a legal case against a cracker or vandal.
This tech is too new for this specific case, I would think. Let's take
a gander in 5 or 6 years. I think some of this will work out. The
legiscritters are still trying to figure out how to spell 'network' as
it is..:)
>
> Bryan, you normally have very good posts, so if I am wrong, please tell
Thanks..<blush...>
> me (us). Again, what this list needs is states, courts, and case numbers.
This would be, I think, a good assignment for a law school class or
college class in sys admin...we have collegians here..anyone want
to help increase the knowledge of the rest of us Old Fogies <g>??
> Sorry if I seem to be overreacting, but you make good posts and I would not
> like the less informed to propagate this urban legend.
Well, I don't think this is the level of Craig Shergold or the Modem Tax
yet..:)
>
> BTW, Bryan is right, I think it is a bad idea to use a "Welcome to ...."
> banner, but it is not a legal exposure.
Not being a lawyer, or even playing one on TV (my appearances run more
towards the weary 1862 CSA soldier...:)), I can only state what I
was told by my corporate lawyers. (Sorry, those communications are not
publicaly available, and they did not provide citations to back up their
rationale.) They provided both the text of the warning banner, and the
rationale they used for directing that we do not use "Welcome..."
anywhere in the text. Some of that information came from the NCSA, some
from their own paranoia. That is where my statement comes from.
Unfortunately, I don't have the time or inclination to research
court dockets, cases, or anything else to support this...But,
considering the state of today's courts, (in nj, they just ruled that if
you lend your car keys to a friend, and they go out after the fact and
commit a DWI offense, you can be charged under the same CRIMINALstatues
as they are for the same offense...figure that one out...), I would
leave nothing to the imagination. These speculations are for those
closer to the bar.
Any legal types want to help?
--
Bryan D. Boyle | EMAIL: bdboyle @
erenj .
com 908-730-3338
#include <disclaimer> | http://www.access.digex.net/~bdboyle/index.html
"The myth that Bill Gates has appeared like a knight in shining armor to
lead all customers out of a mire of technological chaos neatly ignores
the fact that it was he who, by peddling second-rate technology, led
them into it in the first place, and continues to do so today."
--Douglas Adams
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