<p>So......do these ruin a student's life? Does your student not read any newspaper and thus hasn't followed the downloading problem.....the suit against many students at many schools??? Or there is the sexual involvement with a younger partner.....statutory. Does registering for that crime ruin student's life? Ignorance is not an excuse.</p>
<p>concernedparent:</p>
<p>I concur that this should just be a wrist slap. </p>
<p>But, unfortunately, they are being threatened with major legal action and penalties by Hollywood and the rest of the industry. Colleges just can't afford to let such stuff happen.</p>
<p>Just last week, a colleague's cousin (age 17) was sued in federal court for a violation of such laws. "Cuz" claimed she only downloaded ~20 songs....perhaps. Nevertheless, the plaintiff is seeking damages of $30,000.</p>
<p>Wow, concernedparent, your post just blows me away: "devout christian" now is put forth as an excuse for evading the normal & usual consequences of computer theft. That one really takes the cake. </p>
<p>Even a 9 year old knows that (a) downloading of copyrighted files is illegal, and (b) that there are terms of use to be adhered to when using school or library computers. I say that because the whole issue of downloading/copyright has been extremely widely publicized, and my kids have been required to sign computer use agreements for their respective schools for as long as the schools have had internet enabled computers.</p>
<p>If this kid's "life is over" because he got caught doing something he knew he wasn't supposed to be doing.... well, all I have to say is that if he is that upset about it, I guess his life as a computer file thief is over. The real world consequences will be minimal, but if he's learned a lesson that real world rules apply to him, no matter what his professed religiion, then I'd say it's a good thing that he got caught.</p>
<p>As far as the "devout christian" thing goes: I'd suggest he pick up his Bible & look up the 8th commandment.</p>
<p>What words in my post suggested that being a christian was an excuse? Typical American. Looking to accuse. I simply point out that he came from a nice backgound, and maybe did not realize what he was doing.
The point is, be very careful. Small mistakes like this were forgiven in the past. The current culture here is hypervigilant and a bit draconian. </p>
<p>BTW, speaking of forgiven, what were the last words of Jesus (before "God, why have you forsaken me?") His last action was to forgive the sins of a thief crucified next to Him.</p>
<p>Perhaps you are more focused on the fire and brimstone parts of the bible.</p>
<p>I didn't see concerned parent using Christian as an excuse for behavior but neither do I see why religion is relevant-religion does not indicate "nice" background and the lack of religion doesn't indicate the opposite</p>
<p>It is mandatory however to be familar with the rules of your school because they vary. Read all that stuff they give you, attend orientation meetings they are there for a purpose.</p>
<p>So the kid's life is going to be ruined when he is sentenced to do 50 hours of community service (instead of watching movies?)</p>
<p>Maybe he can do them at his church!</p>
<p>Faith based community service....watching Christian movies at church....that is just soooooo bushwacked. Maybe this kid went wrong when he was exposed to diversity at this university, you know meeting folks who aren't devote christians.</p>
<p>Concernedparent, you seem to suggest that the kid's "devout Christian" background is a reason that he should be above the law -- I'm not sure of the rationale: because an arrest is somehow more devasting for him? or because he is somehow more naive and should be excused from being aware of the laws? or because he is somehow more virtuous and deserving of tolerance and mercy?</p>
<p>This isn't a case calling for "forgiveness" -- there is no suggestion whatsoever that the consequence of his arrest will be in any way disproportionate to the offense. This kid is subject to the same rules and consequences as anyone else.</p>
<p>I just did a quick search of the web adn found similiar posting on three other websites, with almost the same wording...they like I smell a hoax --- </p>
<p>what are the sources for the original story--my bet is the original story is bogus ...even if concerned parent isnt?</p>
<p>Naw....they're not bogus but they know what happens to devout when they enter the world at large.....consequences for actions which apparently in the world of forgiveness comes as a shock.</p>
<p>Curiosity killed the cat.
- sigh -
again, I am sorry that I even mentioned the religion. It seems like people see words on a screen, mix them up, and come to their own conclusions. </p>
<p>The point is, most things that you get arrested for are obviously wrong.
Computer use on college and university campuses is dangerous. They may allow Yahoo messenger to transfer files and messages. They may allow you to install it temporarily. When you click on a web page, it may install a plugin on the computer. Thousands of web sites have java chat clients that install automaticlly. Well, you have now tampered with another persons property, and you can go to jail. Kathy Lee Gifford had a web site with a java chat client. Clean and wholesome chatting. According to the law, you have tampered with the library's computer by going to a web page that installed the chat client. Why risk it?</p>
<p>The letter of the law does not distinguish between installing something to chat with other students, share files, or hack into systems.</p>
<p>Good luck getting into school in China. I know you were just kidding, but it is so hard to get into college there that everyone is trying to leave the country ( a lot of students go to college in Europe, a few lucky ones get to come to the US)</p>
<p>You ignore the fact that this student installed file sharing software on a computer that was not his own. I think any student should know that there are restrictions on how public computers may be used. In fact, most public computers have some protections in place to prevent users from installing new software - such as firewalls or control of user privilege settings - so it is very likely that this student indeed did some hacking to get around whatever barrier was on the computer to prevent such installation. </p>
<p>Plus - it is very likely that something significant happened -- like a huge spike in bandwidth use -- to alert the library to the problem. </p>
<p>You have posited all sorts of hypotheticals that didn't happen in this case, and then tried to rewrite a history to make the student sound hapless and ignorant. Like the t.v. commercial where the little girl accidentally downloads a file with a virus on her daddy's office computer, but fortunately the entire office network is protected by the anti-virus program being advertised and the IT division is immediately alerted. </p>
<p>But it is highly unlikely that this kid was like the innocent little girl. The process by which he was caught negates that assumption -- how did the library staff even know he was the one who did the downloading? Computer intruders are hard to catch the first time around - you have to set traps for them and wait for them to come back. So in this case it is most likely that the student's activities were monitored over time. </p>
<p>This is no different from the incident posted in another thread where the high school boys were apprehended after entering their school building through the roof -- no one was making excuses for them, even though they were much younger and didn't seem to have any criminal intent. </p>
<p>If what this kid did was truly innocuous, chances are that his case will be dismissed. An arrest is not the same as a conviction. If the circumstances show that what he did was illegal, but he lacked awareness of the illegality -- the consequences are likely to be minimal, but firm enough to make sure that he knows not to make the mistake again -- typically for an adult offender, a fine but no jail sentence. And if the reality is that he is a sophisticate computer user who knew exactly what he was doing, he will likely get the consequence he deserves -- but computer crime very rarely results in significant jail sentences.</p>
<p>I did a quick internet search-- this exact info "life ruined" thread is on several different places,Like here no original source for this infromation is posted</p>
<p>I will bet "dollars to donuts" that the incident never happened</p>
<p>give me a link to the original incident and I will retract</p>
<p>one other point ... the school certainly can set and monitor its policy on computer usage ... these rules may or may not make a lot of sense ... however, all the school can do if a student violates a school policy is kick you out of school. If this student was arrested they are accused of violating a city, state, or national law ... it is a government pressing charges and not the school. To me, the story does not seem to add up.</p>