Virus writers charged with copyright violation
In a strange case, Japan has arrested suspected virus writers on grounds on copyright violation.
The suspects created and distributed Harada (a Trojan horse infecting users of the Winny P2P file-sharing network). The Trojan displayed images of popular animation characters while wiping MP3 and movie files.
Under Japanese Law, it is not illegal to write computer viruses and hence the suspects are being charged for copyright violation on the grounds that cartoon graphics were used without permission in the Trojan.
This is believed to be the first arrest in Japan of a virus writer.
Harada is believed to be related to the Pirlames Trojan horse (http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2007/02/pirlames.html)
PS: Virus writers and distributors are punishable in India with fines and imprisonment terms under the Information Technology Act.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 at 1:13 pm and is filed under Technology.
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