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At some point the analogy breaks down.. what if I typo "admin" trying to get to another page? Or, more realistically, what about spiders? What if it's linked
by jbooth 15y ago
At some point the analogy breaks down.. what if I typo "admin" trying to get to another page? Or, more realistically, what about spiders? What if it's linked and a human clicks the link?
- tptacek 15y agoYou cannot be charged for most crimes if you lack any criminal intent.
- jbooth 15y agoOk, sure, I'm just saying that the analogy breaks down. Now the debate is over intent, whereas it's nearly impossible to accidentally break and enter.
- tptacek 15y agoI don't think the analogy breaks down. I think most of the people arguing here need to go re-read Wikipedia on mens rea vs. actus rea. Most of the counter-analogies seem to boil down to things like, "but then Google could one day decide nobody's authorized to visit WWW.GOOGLE.COM and half the US would become felons!"
- jbooth 15y agoI think we're talking at different points, I was saying that we don't have like literal robots walking the streets who might accidentally wander into your house, and you can't misclick your way into sticking up a liquor store. Certainly if you have a whole set of willful misconduct associated with the act, like in this case, then it's illegal/wrong even if the page was wide open and prominently linked. I guess I was just saying that you couldn't just hold someone culpable for a hit in the access log like you could for being in the wrong kitchen. The bar to prove bad intent is higher.
- tptacek 15y agoSure. Who disagrees with that? If you accidentally stumble onto an /admin page, say "shit!", send an email to the site and then log off, who thinks you should be charged with a crime? Nobody does.