Comment Re:What law did Google break? (Score 1) 109
If I make a web page that crashes IE6, am I at fault?
If you make a web site and it happens to crash IE6, then you're not at fault. If you make a web site that intentionally crashes IE6 and encourage IE6 users to visit it, then I don't see why it would be treated any differently from any other DoS attack. If I find a bug that crashes Apache from a malformed URL and then stick a link to someone's Apache server with such a URL on my web page, I don't think there's any doubt that it's malicious.
In the case of Google, they intentionally exploited a security hole in Safari to collect information about the user. This seems like something that is a pretty clear cut case of violating whatever the US equivalent of the Computer Misuse Act is. $17m seems like a very low fine considering the number of people who were affected. It's under $1 per incident, which doesn't seem enough to discourage a company like Google.
Can I now sue Verizon for crapwares that make my phone vulernable?
If they install them for the purpose of making your phone vulnerable, yes. If they exploit the holes introduced by the crapware for profit (or for other purposes), then yes.
I guess I am asking others: What line the sand did Google step across?
They identified a vulnerability in a piece of software, and instead of reporting it they decided to exploit it.