Software Company Files Lawsuit Against Hackers

By Sushuma on 2000-03-17 10:30:08

(AP)-Microsystems Software, Inc., which sells the widely used "Cyber Patrol" software, filed an unusual federal lawsuit Wednesday asking a judge to order Eddy L.O.?Jansson and Matthew Skala to stop distributing their "cphack" program immediately.?The program helps kids "crack" their parents' password and access websites the Cyber Patrol program shields them from.?No hearing has been set due to difficulties contacting lawyers of the defendants, who are outside the US.?Skala, a Canadian graduate student in computer science, and Jansson, believed to be living in Sweden, published on the Internet and in e-mail the details about how to circumvent the filter technology in Cyber Patrol, which sells for about $30 and is widely used in many of the nation's elementary schools and libraries.?The pair offered a small "cphack" utility free for download that, when run on a parent's computer, discloses the password allowing access to questionable Web sites -- and also reveals the product's entire list of more than 100,000 Internet sites deemed unsuitable for children.?Early today, activists copied the utility and details of the effort and began distributing them across the Internet on nearly two dozen Web sites that duplicated Jansson and Skala's original work.?Those efforts apparently were coordinated on a popular technology Web site, Slashdot, where the lawsuit was roundly condemned.?More...?

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