I can't believe Microsoft let the kid off so easy. I have worked tech support at the same ISP since before that attack first happened. That virus is STILL costing us time and resources to fix customer's computers/reinstall ISP services after it infected their systems. He has cost EVERYONE a heck of a lot more than $500,000. If nothing else, he needs to be made an example of, so that the next guy suffering from "mental-health problems" (how original) thinks twice before he distributes a virus.

Are you kidding me?!? If anything, the world at large owes this kid. For a company that has as much marketshare as Microsoft, you'd think they could turn out some software that was... secure... As an IT Director, I'm amazed at the specs of the hardware I have to purchase just so the sales dept can send email. This kid, and people like him are doing the world a favor, by forcing us to look to other options to implement in our industries. Since I mandated all employees to replace their IE/Outlook combinations with FireFox/ThunderBird, my team's workload has been literally cut in half... I'm a believer...

EXCUSE ME this guy is a legend, he has provided many it consultants, like me, with many hours pay. if we lived in a dandy world where computers did everything we wanted then where would people like me get work. without evil there can be no good and i wouldn't get paid.

If thats so then should we class every petty theif, two bit drug dealer and serial killers as LEGENDS because they give jobs to policemen. The more of these low lifes the more money the policemen get. Well i ask you is that a good reason to proclaim these scum as LEGENDS?

For the technically disadvantaged, the blaster worm was not really a difficult thing to program. However, he had the intent - which happened to be malicious, so I believe the punishment fits the crime. I don't think Microsoft gives a crap about this guy, not to mention that they have an excellent pool of non-criminal types who'll work for much less than 2200.00/hr. My 2c.

Looks more like a PR move on Microsofts part, they don't look like such a money hungry company if they don't demand money from a 18 year who will take years to pay off the $500k. Plus it kinda s***s the spotlight away from the fact that 50,000 computers were infected by an 18yr old.

His parents and school should be held accountable for contributing to the problem.

haha.. right. I hope that was a joke.

This is probably one of the big factors in him getting community service. He's simply a script-kiddie who edited blaster, and released a slightly modified variant. MS probably assumed he was too juvenile to know any better to slap him with a fine he can't pay. The original blaster infected 9.5 million computers, this variant only infectd 50,000. Or 0.53% of all infections.

I never comment about these things so I don't see why I should start now.

225 hours = $500,000
500,000/225 = 2222.22
I wish my time was worth over $2000 an hour.
Now figure he's 18, prob. could be making something like say 9.50 an hour so we'll say $10 an hour. Wouldn't that be more appopriate. So he should have gotten 50,000 hour of community service. It's only like 5.7 years of community service.

lol - I like that idea better

since this was a criminal case, tried in a criminal court, and carrying a criminal sentence, since when does Microsoft operate the criminal justice system and more importantly, whats up with the cavalier approach to sentencing?

past that.. yea, community service ... hmmmm ... methinks MS has plans for this young lad

They should put him charge of security. He can't fo any worse.

If microsoft want him to pay a fine of 500k why don't they let him loose on a stand alone system??? in there office's?? and get his knowledge isn't that better than going round stating he's a bad boy??

If he can come up with the blaster virus surly it would be more benificial for everyone to know how he did it?? and see wether he can find any other flor with the MS OS?? comments??

250 hours to work off 500,000 dollars restitution i want a job that pays that well that definatly needs to be increased by atleast oh lets say a couple thousand hours and it should be physical labour not just one of those idiots that goes around to all the schools to give the old i was bad and this is why you shouldn't do what i did speech put him in a retirement home helping change senoirs diapers and being thier errand boy every weekend for about 5 years.

First, lets reiterate that this kid modified the viral code, but did not actually develop the original virus. It does not take THAT much programming knowledge to do that, and I seriously doubt he has the knowlege to find any hidden flaws in Windows. The kid can't even write his own viruses.

Shy_one, in order for your work to be worth $2000/hr, you have to have proper punctuation and grammar skills. Please, for the love of all thats good and holy, PUNCTUATE YOUR SENTENCES! Reading your reply was like a dyslexic reading E.E. Cummings while fighting a nasty hangover.

funny i don't see anywhere on that post where i stated that he originaly created the virus i did state that he needed a lot more comunity sevice than 250 hours to work off $500,000 in restitution.

in conclusion instead of picking apart my grammar and puncuation you should lean to read.

themonkman

Your grammar and punctuation are not entirely correct either. You are a hypocrite.

Imagine my surprise when Mr Parson gets comunity service for disrupting the worlds computers and costing us millions of pounds and dollars in putting it right, and yet the elderley man who allowed his grandson to download some music on his PC is still being taken to court for over $6000 - Now correct me if Im wrong, but doesnt anybody else think thats strange ?

strange yes, but realistically what are MS chances of even gettin 1% of that $500,000? absolutely none, although community service is way to light of a sentece by any means.

Yeah, it's obvious he should -go to prison.-

This lad owes money to the world at large, and nothing to microsoft.

Microsoft has released buggy software (big supprise).
Why do I have to pay them to use defective software. Microsoft is responsible for the success of Blaster. MS should be giving compensation to companies affected.

I concurr. A tougher sentece on the young man in question would be treating the symptom not the problem. The problem as I see it is weak security within the operating system itself. If it wasnt for our favorite little scapegoat someone else would have done it.