Sneak was delighted to learn that denial of service attacks on email systems are not legal after all. As you may recall, a judge late last year opined that sending millions of messages to a company with the intention of causing IT difficulties was not a crime, as the mail servers were simply being put to the use for which they were provided. Sneak refrained from attempting to deliver a brown-paper-wrapped Transit van through the judge’s letterbox, and instead waited for the appeal. Fortunately for Sneak’s no-claims bonus, the Court of Appeals has ruled that while a computer owner might consent to receiving emails, the consent would not cover messages sent with the intention of disrupting the system.
Sneak wonders if the ruling can be extended to cover the myriad unwelcome firms who, taken together, mount a round-the-clock denial-of-paper attack on Sneak’s fax machine?

15 May 2006