What is Digg?149 Comments
- TheReport, on 10/12/2007, -13/+109You people make it sound like she killed a kid. Its ***** porn for christsakes stop over analyzing it and get ***** laid. I'm so sick of hearing trials like this while real criminals, yes the ones that commit real crimes are getting a couple years of jail time with the possibility of parole within a fraction of the sentence. These are same criminals who are out killing, molesting, and exploiting these very children while, this teacher who for the sake of the argument was surfing goatse.cx is facing a 40 year sentence for exposing these children to what they are going to be doing in the next couple of years anyways?
- matt1888, on 10/12/2007, -1/+59This is the stupidest suit ever it isn't her fault for the schools incompetence on their own security.
- Paroparo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+50The point of the story was that SHE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO TURN OF THE COMPUTER.
No seriously, she had almost never used one, *never* turned one off, and probably panicked anyway. It might be hard to understand, but there are still people like this out there. This lawsuit is quite ridiculous. - Eoxx, on 10/12/2007, -18/+66Another proof that Microsoft products put its users in risky situation
Another good reason not to use IE on a computer (and replace it by Firefox) especially in a school ! - CkMaverick, on 10/12/2007, -3/+47I would hope there is more to this story or are we really going to throw someone in jail because porn pop-ups appeared in front of some kids? Oh no... the world is coming to an end, kids now know a little something about sex. I swear America is the most prudelike nation on the planet. If a nipple pops into view suddenly its a national security crisis. I have a feeling if they relaxed the sex police down a little, alot of the things they are trying to "improve" such as the spreading of stds, teenage pregnancy, etc would actually get better.
On another unrelated note, you wonder why this woman is blocking the screen with her hand and pushing kids away, at the very least, instead of closing infinite windows she could just pull the plug out of the wall :P - prammy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+42@eoxx
Many people are able to keep their computers clean by following simple steps. However in this case, the responsibility for that belongs to the school and not the teacher or microsoft. If anyone should be blamed, it should be the school and its network administrators/tech support people.
Right now the school is in a CYA mode. They want to blame the teacher because she is the easiest target. And from what I have read about this, the law enforcement in the area are not very tech savvy either.
She has been dealt a bad hand. Hopefully some good attorney decides to take up this case and get her an acquittal and in addition, point out the weak security policies that the school has.
Hell it is not even that hard to keep spyware/adware away in a work environment. Lock down the machines and give the users only the stuff they need. - Zera, on 10/12/2007, -0/+32Remember, The Government runs the courts, and the Government isn't good at anything.
Alan Gell was convicted of killing a man, that after two years on Death Row, it was discovered that there was rampant corruption in the North Carolina Justice system, and that he had actually BEEN IN JAIL (for car theft) THE DAY THE MURDER HAD HAPPENED. The witnesses who had lied about it, where actually the murderers. So you think they'd let him out immediately right? NO. It took 2.5 MORE YEARS for a re-trial to be scheduled, at which point he was fully acquitted. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Gell
Richard Paey, a 46 year old man bound to a wheelchair due to a car accident in 1986, and the onset of Multiple Sclerosis has prescriptions for various controlled pain pills. In short, he had such large doses of pain pills that the Police suspected him of trafficking the drugs for profit. They watched him under surveillance for three months and found nothing. He was arrested in 1997, and imprisoned until he was sentenced to the mandatory minimum sentence for drug traffickers: 25 years. He is still in jail today, despite COMPLETE lack of evidence against him. He was offered a plea bargain but denied it because he thought that if he took it, it would set a dangerous precedent for other disabled people in his position. He wasn't guilty of anything and so he was not going to bend to a plea bargain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Paey also: http://www.november.org/thewall/cases/paey-r/paey-r.html
The Government Isn't Good at Anything. Not the Death Penalty, Not the War on Drugs, certainly not the court system, and when you look into all the different things it does, it becomes clear the government isn't good at anything. Not even taxes! The tax code is ridiculously huge and inefficient.
What can we do about it? Make the government as small as possible. 10 Incompetent Government officials make fewer mistakes than 100 Incompetent Government officials. - TheReport, on 10/12/2007, -1/+33"Even the least technically inclined person can throw a jacket over the screen.
She had responsibility to protect those children and she failed. "
Yes she failed as human being panicking under pressure and not thinking correctly..for that she needs to go to jail for 40 years /sarcasm
way to grab the bull by the horns there slappy you want a pedastool now so you can hoover over her human mistake? - MrSalty, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26It's not a lawsuit, it's a criminal prosecution, which is far more serious.
- chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -9/+33@ Eoxx
she was using Win98 and IE5 without a firewall and anti-virus on a computer riddled with spyware that is over 10 years old. I don't think it's Microsoft's fault. But it's nice to know some of the trolls still live here. - A2Ska, on 10/12/2007, -5/+28Leo and the Twit's have been talking about this a tons, total bull *****. I remember pron storms of windows '98, never fun.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24Yes, this is typically a case that makes the rest of the world laugh.
- rm999, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Believe it or not, the USA was built on that principle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereignty#Sovereignty_and_federalism
Some things really should be left to local jurisdictions. For example, gun laws: it makes sense that a farmer in Ohio should have the right to arm himself (protect his farm), but it is more debatable in a place like New York City. The USA is a large place - local laws allow flexibility. For the rest of the laws, federal supersedes local. - orangemarmalade, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19same reason she's going to jail... noobishness
- skizorz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18We are writing a persuasive essay in my english class on monday, my topic was the corruptness of the public justice system. I think I just got more ammo for my report. XD
- bariswheel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18The sys admin/helpdesk is very much accountable for this. This would be like jailing a 5 year old for setting the house on fire by mistake, due to ignorant and apathetic parents.
it's time for the court justice to wise up. - rm999, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Nah, just paid attention in 11th grade history ;)
- inobla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12A substitute teacher with no administrative responsibility or control over the PC getting 40 years for some stupid pop-ups? Was she supposed to take care of PC maintenance that day?
She was obviously too clueless to shut the monitor off, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the school's responsibility to maintain their own equipment. NOTHING.
The judge in that case needs to be disbarred... - LordLucless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I don't know about this woman, but my Mum doesn't know which one is the power cable. If the computer was installed on a desk with some other stuff, you probably wouldn't know which power cable on the power board belongs to the computer (or the screen). If this was a laptop, pulling the plug wouldn't do anything. And with modern computers, you usually need to hold the power button for 5 seconds, and the reset buttons are usually inset and difficult to press to avoid accidents.
If cluelessness was a criminal offense, then the judge and jury for this trial should be stuck in jail along with her. And the public prosecutor has a special seat reserved for him in hell, I'm sure. - ropers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I'll repeat my posts @ Ars Technica:
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/174096756/m/444006543831?r=973003643831#973003643831
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/174096756/m/444006543831?r=604003643831#604003643831
I find it perfectly believable that the teacher might have found it difficult to turn off the PC.
Let's keep in mind that this was a Windows 98 machine running Internet Explorer 5 -- a generation of computers where APM/ACPI wasn't yet ubiquitous. So often times it would have been required to click Start -- Shutdown, and then to manually flick the power switch once told to do so. And the older among us will remember exhorting people to NEVER flick that switch before the computer told you that it's safe to do so.
However, under Windows 98 and MSIE 5 --and seasoned pros will remember this-- it was still possible for the browser to bring up a flurry of single modal dialog boxes ( cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_window ) preventing the average user from accessing anything else before closing all these boxes.
And we remember those specifically crafted prank websites which held unsophisticated visitors "hostage", forcing them to deal with an annoying series of useless dialog boxes before letting them get back to work -- a technique that would undoubtedly also find favour among unscrupulous porn peddlers with per-view advertising plans. So it's perfectly possible that without knowing how to bring up the task manager, a hapless Ms. Amero may have found herself stuck and at the mercy of a particularly nasty bunch of porn pop-ups which could have used the much-loathed onClose EMCAscript to open yet more modal dialogs.
Close one window-- up come another two, etc. etc. ad infinitum et ad nauseam.
----
I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but let's also keep in mind that in this day and age it's perfectly possible that someone else caught a nasty piece of spyware that would have generated such porn popups without Ms. Amero having anything to do with it at all. Particularly on MSIE 5/Win98. Ms. Amero probably just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
PS: Can you spell "scapegoat"?
A-M-E-R-... - EvilFerret, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Middle school is normally 6-8 grade isn't it? LOL When I was their age I was surfing for porn on a *lightning fast* 9600 baud modem.. You cannot tell me that most of those ***** kids (at least the boys) didn't have torrents downloading full 2hr porn movies while they were at school. I mean holy *****, these kids are growing up with ***** pornotube.com. ***** probably know more sex positions than any teacher in that school combined..... Yeah I'm sure it was *damaging* for them to see a Win98 machine still alive and kicking, but the porn didn't phase them at all.
- shreyans, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15The oxymoron in the phrase "Justice system" is the word 'Justice'
- cbiz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I live in Prague and the UK 6 months of the year - I enjoy seeing breasts on the front page of the newspapers everyday. Also, the kids don't seem to mind either. Sometimes the USA just blows my mind.
- rjnagle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10xsxs. A previously digged article shows this not to be the case. An expert witness for the defense (whose testimony was not admissible for some reason), went on record stating that the logs didn't establish that at all, and that the PC was infested with viruses before she ever touched the computer.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/46925/ - ICSU, on 10/12/2007, -8/+18@Eoxx
FTA: "Windows 98 machine running Internet Explorer 5"
It's not Microsoft's fault that their IT lab froze in the last millennium. - orientis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10The oxymoron is the word justice? That doesn't even make sense.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10No surprise there. One thing I learned from school is school's a bitch.
- Badtastic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9This case stinks a mile away and seems to be a gross miscarriage of justice.
Wouldn't it be great if Microsoft had the benevolence to step in here on behalf of this poor teacher? They'd gain some serious respect if they did. After all, Windows 98 was involved and even Microsoft have stopped supporting it (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/support/endofsupport.mspx) - paranoidfox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The worst part is that even if she's not convicted of anything her reputation will be tarnished. And for teachers, whose job it is to work with other people's children... this is incredibly important.
- Quix, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14"Microsoft: Where Do You Want To Go Today?"
Um, jail?
How about:
"Windows: It Will Ruin Your Life."
I know it ruins mine 40+ hours a week...I need a new employer. :( - TheReport, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Justice in this country is an oxymoron in itself, yes yes i know the definition of an Oxymoron what do you think I am? an Educated Idiot?
- TheReport, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"We understand the problem. We don't need analogies."
Apparently by some of the posters on this thread it looks like the dont. If the man feels like his ego is struck by making an anaology let the man do it, just like how you feel the need to point out how we dont need anymore analogies. - petroK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7erm... welcome to America, guys. Here are your pamphlets on federalism. Here is a copy of the constitution and amendments. I highlighted the tenth one... don't worry the federal government mostly ignores that one too.
- TrendyTim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Every country should have elite techies that can consult on cases like this, unless its could be proven that she bypassed security to install that malware how can she hold the blame for that.
Infact they should imprison the developer and possibly the distributer (if it was done so willingly, if it was by a hacked website then hacker) of the malware. - Fhwqhgads, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7The bible thumpers who run the government cant allow a fair and balanced court case. Their beliefs were offended. So much corruption it's not even funny.
- mattxb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Whatever happened to the idea of accidents? Whenever something bad happens now they have to take it to court and hold someone accountable.
- kolobcreek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6HEADLINE: coming to a blog near you.
Substitute teacher sues school district in multi million dollar law suite for gross negligence. - tcquad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@syco123
You're right. Too bad when she asked four other teachers and the assistant principal for help they didn't tell her to do that.
@dxmzan
It may have been her first time using Windows. Or a PC that old. Or maybe a substitute teacher started freaking out when she realized her entire livelihood may have just been destroyed. - tobias1482, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8You seemed reasonable until the last 2 sentences. What you then proposed was basically an inroad to government censorship. The government, when given power, is always way too eager to appease who ever is currently making the most noise in matters like this. All it takes is a few people with no understanding or appreciation of art to make it so that the rest of us can't view it.
Did you know that Michelangelo's David has a penis? It's right there in front where it should be and not in a xxx domain. - Carrottop4u, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Carl1 you are incredibly insensitive. No-one should have to go through what this poor woman is going through. I would love to hear the reasoning behind why the defense expert witness with 40 years experience wasn't allowed to testify. Should be a good issue on appeal. Whatever happened to having a jury hear ALL of the facts and BOTH sides of the issue BEFORE they make a decision?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I'm with you, however...It's Win98, there's no such thing as "securing" Win98; and I seem to recall in the article that the regular teacher had asked her not to log his/her account out. But yeah she should have been in-serviced on the use of the computer systems at the school.
- rodo75005, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You can't blame her. Totally not her fault.
Who is in charge of IT there (IT dept, external PC maintenance ...) ?
But maybe in this small school there is not IT dept, just a 'I know a bit about PC guy' who bought this crappy Win98/IE5 PC with trial anti-virus licence on it at the local PC store.
If nobody is in charge of IT, who do you blame for those "underaged ***** sucking latinas pop ups" ??? - moonaust, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It is not the indv. teachers responsibility, it should fall on the school district.
- Psyferre, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5This is absolute crap. As an IT technician I've known WAY too many users that manage to send emails from time to time but still have no idea what to do when a "problem" occurs. Many users will just freeze up when something goes wrong, even if there seems to be a simple fix, just because they don't think they could possibly grasp the concept. They're defeated by their own inability to believe that sometimes it really is simple.
Yes, she could have turned off the monitor - Yes, she could have flipped the switch, or any number of other things. The simple fact is that some people just don't understand computers to the point that if it's not turned on and ready to "click the blue E for internet" they have no idea what's going on. I've known too many users that didn't turn off their computer for months before I finally told them it was alright to do so, or that I spent large amounts of time trying to explain that the monitor and/or PC had to be turned on - and THAT was why their "internet wasn't working".
This lady shouldn't be punished because the machine was compromised and she didn't know what to do about it. She's being made a scapegoat by people too stupid to know better. - tisfl37, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Ditto, infinitum, from another IT technician... I deal with people that have had to use a PC for the last 15 years, but if something happens that is outside of thier normal three clicks to a screen routine they absolutely freak out and come running to my office. They don't want to know how to "fix" a problem because it's too "technical". Face it people, there are still a vast number of PC users that know some very basic tasks, like reading and sending an e-mail, that lock up and become paralyzed when something like this happens... The school systems IT department should be gutted, and any workstation that can't be secured should be wiped and removed from use. Shame on any organization that makes this a criminal offense... absolute bull!!
- afpunk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This is infuriating. The computer "expert" for the prosecution should be fired without any severence from the police department immediately. It is quite clear he is not capable of doing his job.
- Legopirate, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6more kids sure learn about sex at an early age, to many crappy lays out there :{~
but seriously, this is ***** retarded. GG america. - unfiction, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4No offense, but this story is written terribly. Here's the same story from the AP: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2872230
- ragnus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Every substitute I had never took time out of their personal interests while in the classroom. Occasionally, teachers provided subs with a syllabus to go by to keep the class busy, but most times the students were there to finish up the prior day's homework, read chapters, etc. In the meantime, the subs sat there quietly and read a novel of some sort, snapping at kids when they would chat among a neighbor.
Now, schools are giving teachers computers to manage student files, calculate grades and perform all sorts of other curriculum-based research or functions to maintain an organized and informed teaching structure. Now, the substitute doesn't have a novel to read, or nails to paint because the INTERNET is way more entertaining.
Here is where I would start in on the web-security issues that the school evidently didn't take time into putting in place to prevent a situation like this in the first place. They should also put the school administration in the hot seat and see how they end up with a 40-year conviction due to lack of responsibility.
It seems that law is just befuddled when it comes to cases like this. Every computer-related conviction I've read about has a huge window of confusion between jury, defense, prosecution and Judge. There's always this thick haze of questions everyone has due to 1. improper knowledge of computers and/or Internet and 2. the rubbish forensics that are presented.
The case arose due to the parents complaints, when in turn their kids probably surf porn on their unmonitored computer on a daily basis. This whole case is a reality check to everyone involved.
I've rambled enough. - combatchuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Powerpoint has never been vital to an 8th grader's education. I am a geek, and I agree that computers should be removed from the classroom. They shouldn't be there until the child is actually learning about them. Then ***** like this wouldn't happen.
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