'Blaster' Teen Sentenced To 1½ Years

KingFishKingFish
edited February 2005 in Science & Tech
A teenager was sentenced Friday to 1½ years in prison for unleashing a variant of the "Blaster" Internet worm (search) that crippled 48,000 computers in 2003.
Jeffrey Lee Parson (search), 19, of Hopkins, Minn., will serve his time at a low-security prison and must perform 10 months of community service. He had faced up to 10 years in prison, but the judge took pity on the teen, saying his neglectful parents were to blame for the psychological troubles that led to his actions.

"[The Internet] has created a dark hole, a dungeon if you will, for people who have mental illnesses or people who are lonely," U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman (search) said. "I didn't see any parent standing there saying, 'It's not a healthy thing to lock yourself in a room and create your own reality."'

Defense lawyers said Parson feared leaving the house and his parents provided little support. He pleaded guilty last summer to one count of intentionally causing or attempting to cause damage to a protected computer.

Parson created a Blaster version that launched a distributed denial-of-service attack against a Microsoft Windows update Web site as well as personal computers. Blaster and its variants, also known as the LovSan virus, crippled networks worldwide.

Parson's lawyers said he has made great strides since his arrest. They also credited him with making a Seattle School District video warning teens of the dangers of Internet vandalism.

Parson apologized to the court and to Microsoft, saying, "I know I've made a huge mistake and I hurt a lot of people and I feel terrible." He will still have to pay restitution to Microsoft and to people whose commuters were affected in an amount to be determined at a hearing next month.

Parson was charged in Seattle because Microsoft is based in suburban Redmond.
Submitted by: profdlp

Source: Fox News

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2005
    "[The Internet] has created a dark hole, a dungeon if you will, for people who have mental illnesses or people who are lonely," U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said.
    This comment bugs me. I think you could just as easily argue that the Internet provides at least some social life for people who otherwise might have none at all.

    If only he'd found a healthier way to interact with others on the 'net...
  • Private_SnoballPrivate_Snoball Dover AFB, DE, USA
    edited January 2005
    Well after what this judge has said, even more people are going to say that the internet is bad. The internet is not to blame in any, way, shape, or form. Maybe what happened was he was just an extremely intelligent person who wasn't be challenged and his parents weren't ever encouraging his skills so he went with them the way he wanted to. AAAHHHHH!!! things like this make me so mad.

    AAAAHHHHH!!!!
  • Omatic810Omatic810 Gainesville, FL
    edited February 2005
    Well, the kid deserves to be punished no matter what, even if he had lots of issues. I'm glad he got some pity, but anyone with an ounce of intelligence (which apparently he had) knows unleashing a harmful virus will get you in some trouble.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    Really? I find this quote:
    That Judge wrote:
    U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman (search) said. "I didn't see any parent standing there saying, 'It's not a healthy thing to lock yourself in a room and create your own reality."'

    To be quite appropriate. I'm sick of hearing all of these things about mental illness and blamelessness. "Oh, he couldn't help it because he had anxiety or depression"

    It's refreshing to hear a judge place the blame on the parents. Our generation is one of bad parenting, lack of discipline, and shifting the blame. It sickens me sometimes.
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