Have they ever been prosecuted? Sent to jail?
The guy who wrote the infamous “Melissa” virus was sentenced to 20 months of jail time.
Related issue, just yesterday …
The Virginia Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld the nation’s first felony conviction of illegal spamming.
Jeremy Jaynes, of Raleigh, N.C., considered among the top 10 spammers in the world at the time of his arrest, used the Internet to peddle pornography and sham products and services, prosecutors said. Thousands of people fell for his scam, grossing Jaynes’ operations up to $750,000 per month, investigators said.
In its unanimous ruling, the appeals court wrote that Virginia has a “legitimate public interest” in policing unsolicited e-mail and that the state anti-spamming law’s impact on interstate commerce “is incidental and clearly not excessive.”
Source: Business Week - 05 September 2006
mks57
September 7, 2006, 6:16am
4
You need to make a distinction between writing software and distributing software with intent to cause damage. They are two different things.
Surok
September 7, 2006, 7:04am
5
In answer to your questions, Furryman , yes and yes.
It’s hard to compile a complete list, as sometimes the authorities of the country in which the accused is being prosecuted do not wish to publicize the outcome of a court case.
Here is a blogpost which will give you some examples further to that given by engineer_comp_geek .