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You are arguing that Aaron was an idiot. He was many things, but not an idiot. He knew that MIT was trying to stop him from being on their network, and he cont

You are arguing that Aaron was an idiot. He was many things, but not an idiot. He knew that MIT was trying to stop him from being on their network, and he continued to evade their countermeasures and get back on the network. How do I know this? Because I know Aaron was not an idiot.

tomp 14y ago
I can't think of a better example, so this: Imagine I have a land that is for pissing. I.e. people are free to piss on my land. You piss. I don't like the smell of your piss. So I put some boxes where you piss and so I try to block you from peeing. Are you in the wrong to pee on a different part of my land? Wouldn't a better recourse be to require people to sign up before they pee? Or to find you when you're peeing and tell you in person that you can't any more (then if you do it again, it's trespassing)?
- sigzero 14y ago
  That was a horrible example in many ways.
- danielweber 14y ago
  Just because I have something that is open to the public doesn't mean I lose the ability to kick people out. I don't have to put security guards at every door to keep that person out. It was crystal clear that MIT did not want Aaron on their network doing what he was doing. (This doesn't mean, of course, he should be in jail for 7 years.)
- CJefferson 14y ago
  Putting up boxes seems like a terrible example. Really, a MAC address is a unique name. Now your pissing land requires people give their name. I find my name has been banned, so I make up a new name. I think it is clear I know yo don't want me there, but I give a new name to get in.
  - ricardobeat 14y ago
    The whole point of the article is that MAC addresses are not unique and not a reliable way of identification...
    - mpyne 14y ago
      They don't have to be unique. MIT/JSTOR wouldn't have really cared about accidentally blocking people unfortunate enough to share Aaron's MAC address. And, the MAC address would have been perfectly reliable had Aaron not spoofed it. With enough resources it's practically impossible to provide reliably unforgeable credentials without strong crypto, and strong crypto goes against the whole point of MIT's open network.
    - tedunangst 14y ago
      MAC addresses should generally be globally unique. You can change it, but they are not meant to be shared. Bad things happen when MACs are not unique.

tomp 14y ago

I can't think of a better example, so this: Imagine I have a land that is for pissing. I.e. people are free to piss on my land. You piss. I don't like the smell of your piss. So I put some boxes where you piss and so I try to block you from peeing. Are you in the wrong to pee on a different part of my land? Wouldn't a better recourse be to require people to sign up before they pee? Or to find you when you're peeing and tell you in person that you can't any more (then if you do it again, it's trespassing)?

sigzero 14y ago
That was a horrible example in many ways.
danielweber 14y ago
Just because I have something that is open to the public doesn't mean I lose the ability to kick people out. I don't have to put security guards at every door to keep that person out. It was crystal clear that MIT did not want Aaron on their network doing what he was doing. (This doesn't mean, of course, he should be in jail for 7 years.)
CJefferson 14y ago
Putting up boxes seems like a terrible example. Really, a MAC address is a unique name. Now your pissing land requires people give their name. I find my name has been banned, so I make up a new name. I think it is clear I know yo don't want me there, but I give a new name to get in.
- ricardobeat 14y ago
  The whole point of the article is that MAC addresses are not unique and not a reliable way of identification...
  - mpyne 14y ago
    They don't have to be unique. MIT/JSTOR wouldn't have really cared about accidentally blocking people unfortunate enough to share Aaron's MAC address. And, the MAC address would have been perfectly reliable had Aaron not spoofed it. With enough resources it's practically impossible to provide reliably unforgeable credentials without strong crypto, and strong crypto goes against the whole point of MIT's open network.
  - tedunangst 14y ago
    MAC addresses should generally be globally unique. You can change it, but they are not meant to be shared. Bad things happen when MACs are not unique.