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I got a cheap dell notebook and it was just fine

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to the OP. I've played a lot of games. In every one as soon as there was no challenge to the game, it became boring, as soon as it was impossible to progress, it became boring. This isn't life, we're not here for anything but to have fun. Win or lose, I still have my house, my car, my family, my job, none of us are fighting for anything tangible where winning at all costs is important. The only thing I have to lose is having fun playing a game. No matter which side I'm on, terribly unbalanced fights become boring quickly. To me at least.

do you all ever get tired of the drama, or is that what makes it fun?

this war would be a lot more fun if the rest of the server joined in, lol

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I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to be slandered. lol

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I've always used nalgene and camelbacks

I would find a 4 sided triangle rather amazing!

yeah, I agree with you on that. My original post pointed out that this is about the lowest rung on the priority ladder as far as law enforcement is concerned, and probably should be when you consider all the other things law enforcement has to deal with :)

In the situation I dealt with this on there were no monetary damages that could be proved, just damage to data integrity by modifying database entries. However, I worked for a fortune 500 company, which would have had a lot more pull with law enforcement, as well as a legal team perusing it, so the priority was a bit higher, and they got results (the perpetrator was fined and given probation). However, there was a lot of foot dragging, and I got the feeling that a lot of pressure was being exerted to get it dealt with. I purely worked on it from a technical point of view, compiling logs and coordinating with agents about technical evidence.

I'm not sure on your question of monetary damages. For many laws there is that requirement, and for civil action you typically have to have some monetary damage to base a judgement on (though moneys are awarded from time to time for 'pain and suffering', my impression is that those cases are few and far between). But there is no mention that monetary damages are required by the section of the code I referenced, and the definition of damages does not mention money at all, purely a disruption of data or information. There are certainly crimes which do not require monetary damages (mail tampering comes to mind), but we're basically getting beyond where I feel I could give any sort of authoritative answer. For those questions I would usually just suggest that someone speak to an attorney, as the answer likely lies in some unrelated court opinion.

No idea on the question of communication, I am assuming that a website which allows private messaging, and hosts forums would be considered a medium for communication, but this is purely an assumption on my part, no idea on the actual legality of that.

In general I do agree with you, Anonymous, and I appreciate the thought out response!

Edit: and 100% on the jurisdiction, though I'm not sure how that would be effected if the intrusion originated in the US. But yeah, I probably should have prefaced my original comment by stating my assumption of US laws applying. I was kinda flashing back to the old e2025 days, when (if I remember correctly) it was all run from texas.

oh, and this is actually relevant from the USC, it's part of the definitions section of the aforementioned code:

"(8) the term “damage” means any impairment to the integrity or availability of data, a program, a system, or information;"

I'm certainly not a lawyer, but have worked on these issues before, with federal law enforcement. I also can read, which I put to good use on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which clearly states:

18 USC ss 1030
"(5)(A) knowingly causes the transmission of a program, information, code, or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally causes damage without authorization, to a protected computer;
(B) intentionally accesses a protected computer without authorization, and as a result of such conduct, recklessly causes damage; or"

To be effected by the law the site would have to conduct interstate commerce or communications. This site qualifies for at least the latter. The game database was altered, which is similar to the situation I had to work with law enforcement on in the past, and was sufficient to fullfill the requirement that the action cause 'reckless damage'.

so I'm not sure what you're getting at... I would be shocked if a lawyer were to come on here and give you a legal opinion, and I'm certainly not claiming to be one. I can't help but think, it's really easy for you to disagree, but you don't provide any information to support your claim that my information is inaccurate.

edit: and just to clarify, you might be right. I'm unaware of any precedents related to this, or conflicting legislation, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. But without information to corroborate your claim, your statement lacks credibility.

hehe, don't want them 'stealing' your bandwidth, don't visit the site :)

Though, if I could sue google for all the bandwidth they have 'stolen' every time I load up one of their plethora of sites, I would be a rich man (or google would be bankrupt, hehe) :)

You act like running the game is free or something... Your statement basically boils down to complaining that someone else won't pay for you to play, a rather spurious reason to complain.

the fact that you will get into an argument on a public forum over who makes more money... That right there would be enough to steer me far away from you. Any yahoo with a little cash can setup a box and plug it into an ISP, the hosting game is about a lot more than hardware and cash...

o_O

you do realize that obtaining passwords is often the first step of 'hacking' a system?

Not to mention that the law doesn't distinguish unauthorized access by the possession of a password. It is a federal crime to access a secured system without permission. It doesn't matter how you gained that access.

Accessing a secured system without authorization is a crime at the federal level, typically investigated by the FBI (bearing in mind that they will prioritize cases, and game hacks would be toward the bottom of that list).

To the OP, there certainly is a temptation, but you speak as if this precludes people from exorcising judgement, and acting in a way contrary to their initial impulse. I would agree that there are many people who lack the maturity/intelligence/judgement/experience/etc to conduct themselves in this manner, but as a species, I believe we have repeatedly shown that we are capable of much more than knee-jerk impulses to stimulus.

The issue is also confused by systems which can isolate people and obscure the true outcomes of their actions. History is littered with examples of people who felt at the time they were doing the right thing, but to paraphrase, the road to hell can be paved with good intentions.

At the risk of feeding trolls, you basically answer your own question. You aren't attacking, you're not very active, you aren't much of a threat. Why waste time bothering someone who isn't a threat when you could be taking actions to decrease resistance?

it's pretty standard for network apps to log IP's. There are some sites that don't keep those logs, since you can't divulge what you no longer have, but it's fairly uncommon. You have to keep in mind that to an admin who has to manage a server, lacking IP information complicates management and issue resolution. It's also a security issue, since detecting breaches is an important part of any security model. It's more a question of who has access to that info.

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50/bushel you say?

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I haven't had the same experience you have, but I will say that a lot of players on express seem to be testing builds to use on other servers, and another good number are just playing a quick paced game for fun as a break from their more serious play on other servers. So perhaps you're running into people who are either testing things and are trying to hit certain numbers quickly, or are just having fun attacking people.

When looking at Paul's opinions on finance and economy, it's worth looking at his experience in finance oversight and regulation, which is actually fairly extensive. I think it's also hard to rule out his ideas based on the fact that they are 'out of touch with current financial markets' when our current financial markets seem utterly broken.

d'oh!

So someone couldn't compete on team so they decide to be annoying on alliance. Good show!

And I would work on strategy. If your goal was to make PDM members annoyed at our own, giving us a cause to rally together against is counter productive :) Then again, your premise was flawed, as none of us really care what someone does on some other server, but we like bringing it when someone steps up to fight :)

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