Frank Washkuch Jan 9 2007 17:57
A Singaporean hacker has been charged with posting a fake July 2005 bomb threat on a technology website and 60 counts of illegally accessing a wireless network.
Lin Zhenghuang, 21, was charged last week with facetiously warning of a bomb at a local bus stop - just after the London subways and bus bombings. Other site users reported Lin's post to authorities, according to an Associated Press report.
Lin, who uses the online pseudonym "krisurf," also faces 60 charges of illegally accessing nine wireless networks between July 2005 and February 2006, according to the AP. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and US$6,500 in fines.
Lin has been charged with violating Singapore's Computer Misuse Act [pdf].
Garyl Tan Jia Luo, 17, was also charged with accessing the web via another person's internet connection in November of last year. A neighbor told authorities that Tan had accessed his web connection in May 2006.
8 comments:
Holy Kangaroo Court, Batman!
The penalties for computer misuse are stiffer than the penaties for maid abuse!
Sorry kid. White collar criminals who electronically steal money from corporations get a lighter sentences.
Shoulda gone for the money, dude ;)
Yes your right matilah ,and from what im led to belive there are thousands useing the net illegaly in Singabloodypore .But the use of free internet is such a seriouse crime compared to maid abuse !!.Oh and yes white collar crime you meen it realy happens then :)
Humans have freewill. Which means they must choose their actions. Wanting "something for nothing" is a basic human trait. And some people will choose their actions along those lines. There is very little one can do to prevent a person bent on committing crime. However, there is a neuroses in the state—the people who run the state often believe that you can "change" people's behaviour effectively. It can't be done.
What is more rational is to prevent oneself from becoming a VICTIM of criminal activity. Bandswidth "theft" for example needn't have such harsh punishment for "offenders". All one has to do is to protect the WiFi network with WEP encrypted passwords (regularly changed, of course), and have an "authorised users" list on the host. Simple. Straightforward, takes on minutes to set up. No one has to go to jail.
Leaving a WiFi network open, and complaining later of bandswidth leeches, and screaming for the cops is like saying "Oh, I don't lock my house at all. The police's job is to prevent burglaries".
What nonsense.
Some people believe that the role of law enforcement and State Justice is to FORCE people to behave in a certain way — weed out those "bad elements" in society — the "misfits", people sho choose to be themselves in peaceful "radical" ways.
For example, at one time, males with long hair were discriminated against in Singapore. And the people bought this shite. If you had long hair you were essentially labelled by mainstream society as A Loser. And you would invite the curiosity of the cops—i.e. because of your peaceful choice to keep long hair, you are now a social misfit and a "prime suspect" — even though you didn't do anything. This was GOVERNMENT POLICY.
And did the S'pore courts step in to stop this harrasment by the state? NO.
Many laws in Singapore are designed to "change" people. There are usually EXCESSIVE punishments on the books, and it would seem that the judiciary is hell bent on "making examples" of people, so "others" will get the message.
Oh yeah, the fear of pain is a powerfu negativel motivator.
In my mind however, that is not what justice is about.
@matilah_singapura
actually, WEP is not even needed. a mac address filtering will do.
And to singabloodypore, if you are wondering where the next police catch is, then i tell you: this year, they are clamping down on illegal downloads, focusing on Anime Downloads especially.
So in the next few months, expect to see more of Singapore's youth getting caught and jailed for a lifetime just for downloading Anime.
What interests me about the case is how he was caught. The police originally took away the PC of a woman whose wireless access point was used in the transmission of the bomb hoax message. Did they trace him through the records at Hardwarezone.com where he registered his "krisurf" ID?
aboao - thanks for the heads-up. I'll be relaying that to my nephews and nieces and advising them to tell their friends.
Best to spread the word.
Steve:
Don't get all excited. You must get yourself with the following concepts in law:
1. concurrent sentences; and
2. "charges taken into consideration"
-- Mr Wang
mr wang - tell FRANK
"Singapore man faces 180 years in prison"
Frank Washkuch Jan 9 2007 17:57
apart from that - thanks for the free law 101 lesson.
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