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Well, if we're going to insist on an ironclad analogy, I would say it's something like opening up a fire hydrant and splitting the stream into a bunch of smalle
by lukeschlather 16y ago
Well, if we're going to insist on an ironclad analogy, I would say it's something like opening up a fire hydrant and splitting the stream into a bunch of smaller streams, pointing them at a building, and walking away. Except it's more like everyone's garden hoses somehow reach the building with no loss in PSI, and it's a few dozen people each with their own paltry residential water supply. Now, this does have the potential to cause some damage, but not really anything a heavy rain wouldn't cause. Likewise, a DDoS has the potential to overheat some servers and make some sysadmins lose some sleep, but it's nothing a day of heavy traffic couldn't cause.
It's clearly illegal. But I don't think anyone there has done anything such that 10 years in prison is an even remotely reasonable punishment. I would say it's a misdemeanor at worst, and it should carry something between community service and six months in jail.
And really, the sit-in analogy is probably better than that nonsense I just wrote.
- tptacek 16y agoThis is absolutely absurd logic. DDoS attacks can and do cause measurable hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage. You had to have known that. You just choose to overlook the potential damage here because you support the cause.
- magamiako 16y agoWhat damage does a DDOS cause other than loaded normal traffic any other day?
- dspeyer 16y agoDamage? What are you talking about? The routers don't literally catch fire. It disrupts services while the attack is active. A sit in is the correct metaphor.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- sukuriant 16y agoDamage doesn't have to be physical.
- sesqu 16y agoTrue. But if it isn't, it should be considered emotional harm or sabotage, not straight-up damage.
- tptacek 16y agoYour honor! I object! Sure, I used the man's credit card without asking him! But he didn't literally catch fire! Damages? Why, he looks fine to me!
- Dylan16807 16y agoRidiculous analogies aren't helpful. Try something like.. how about standing in front of someone. All day. They can't walk anywhere without pushing past you. Basically harassment and interfering with their day. The damages lie solely in the fact that they aren't able to be productive.
- HeyLaughingBoy 16y agoAre you being deliberately disingenuous? It's a distributed Denial of Service which by definition means someone who wants that service can't have it and by extension means that the merchant performing that service expecting revenue from it is denied that revenue. A single denied credit card transaction can easily exceed the $500 misdemeanor limit. And try telling a business that's operating on razor-thin margins that not being able to process credit cards for a day will "only make some sysadmins lose some sleep."
- lukeschlather 16y agoThe same would be true if a bunch of people sat-in on a supermarket chain to protest that chains' actions. Yes, there are costs involved, but there's a difference between stopping someone from making a sale today and destroying $500 worth of property.