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Racing Fan Guilty Of Flooding TV Station With E-Mails: Sent 500,000 Messages
The Associated Press ^
| August 13, 2003
Posted on 08/13/2003 10:20:33 AM PDT by new cruelty
BOSTON -- A fit of anger is costing a NASCAR fan plenty.
Michael Melo pleaded guilty in May to a federal misdemeanor charge of damage to a protected computer system for flooding Fox Entertainment with angry e-mails after a Boston Red Sox baseball game pre-empted an auto race he was watching.
Melo already has paid $36,000 in restitution and has to fork over $2,000 more in fines. He admitted that he wrote a computer program that blitzed Boston's Fox affiliate with more than 500,000 e-mail messages.
The e-mails were automatically forwarded to the station's Los Angeles parent company, Fox Entertainment. The network, thinking it was a hacker attack, shut down Internet communication with the affiliate and was forced to spend about $36,000 to clean up after the barrage.
Melo has also been sentenced to six months of home detention for his May 2001 stunt.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: nascar
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To: new cruelty
"six months of home detention for his May 2001 stunt"
Am I the only one who thinks that more time at home is the last thing this guy needs?
To: vt_crosscut; NormsRevenge
No, he needs some time out on the track!!
3
posted on
08/13/2003 10:28:16 AM PDT
by
billbears
(Deo Vindice)
To: billbears
Disturbing evidence that auto racing causes malicious behavior.
4
posted on
08/13/2003 10:30:03 AM PDT
by
Rebelbase
To: new cruelty
Wow! I'm amazed a NASCAR fan actually has an IQ high enough to pull off a stunt like that.
5
posted on
08/13/2003 10:33:06 AM PDT
by
rogers21774
(The guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.)
To: new cruelty
This guy rocks. Baseball is gay. NASCAR rules. Period.
6
posted on
08/13/2003 10:35:19 AM PDT
by
jmc813
(Check out the FR Big Brother 4 thread! http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/943368/posts)
To: NormsRevenge
Ping
7
posted on
08/13/2003 10:35:42 AM PDT
by
jmc813
(Check out the FR Big Brother 4 thread! http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/943368/posts)
To: rogers21774
I'm amazed a NASCAR fan actually has an IQ high enough to pull off a stunt like that. Ah stereotyping...
8
posted on
08/13/2003 10:36:18 AM PDT
by
billbears
(Deo Vindice)
To: jmc813
So now we can use the same legal precedent to go after commercial spammers?
9
posted on
08/13/2003 10:38:19 AM PDT
by
norraad
To: rogers21774
ouch.
To: jmc813
I think this guy wins the 'How bad do you have it' contest.
11
posted on
08/13/2003 10:41:23 AM PDT
by
billbears
(Deo Vindice)
To: jmc813
Baseball is gay. NASCAR rules. Period.
Guess there is no room to debate that. : )
To: new cruelty
Michael Melo pleaded guilty in May to a federal misdemeanor charge of damage to a protected computer system for flooding Fox Entertainment with angry e-mails after a Boston Red Sox baseball game pre-empted an auto race he was watching. What the.........???
13
posted on
08/13/2003 10:47:10 AM PDT
by
concerned about politics
("He who controls communications rules the world." - Adolf Hitler)
To: jmc813
NASCAR isn't a sport.
14
posted on
08/13/2003 10:47:43 AM PDT
by
Az Joe
To: new cruelty
Guess there is no room to debate that. : )Nice screen name you've got there.
15
posted on
08/13/2003 10:48:10 AM PDT
by
concerned about politics
("He who controls communications rules the world." - Adolf Hitler)
To: concerned about politics
Thanks.
To: rogers21774
I'm amazed a NASCAR fan actually has an IQ high enough to pull off a stunt like that. It was very simple IIRC.
One IF-THEN loop without shutting down; that's why he got caught so easily, since it went on for several days.
To: Az Joe
NASCAR isn't a sport. Define "sport".
18
posted on
08/13/2003 11:12:14 AM PDT
by
jmc813
(Check out the FR Big Brother 4 thread! http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/943368/posts)
To: All
This guy rocks. Baseball is gay. NASCAR rules. Period. And for those of you who still don't believe me, check this out
19
posted on
08/13/2003 11:55:46 AM PDT
by
jmc813
(Check out the FR Big Brother 4 thread! http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/943368/posts)
To: jmc813
Something you do when your not sitting down.
20
posted on
08/13/2003 1:44:12 PM PDT
by
Az Joe
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