Porn-surfing teacher: Spyware made me do it!

[PsyCLown]

A Connecticut substitute teacher was just found guilty of surfing for pornographic sites in front of a class of seventh graders, and faces up to 40 years in prison. Her outrageous defense, that spyware took control of her PC and she had no control over it, didn't cut it with the jury. It's good to see the justice system getting technology right for once.

read more Here

[lmm]

what is this world coming too????
thats terrible, she could have damaged those little minds.
i hope she doesnt ever get out.

[Ike]

Read the comments. Anyways it has been proven that worms can cause masses of porn popup's on pc. And Computer illiterate people are susceptible to clicking that "Get a Ipod for free ad's"

If this was spyware, I hope they catch the culprits and give them a 400 year sentence.

If not, May she rot in jail...

[PsyCLown]

Yes, I agree with Ike!

I dont see why she would want to surf porn in front of a class?

[Ike]

Yes, I agree with Ike!

I dont see why she would want to surf porn in front of a class?

Unless she finds sexual gratification in it. But still she is a substitute teacher, So maybe she didn't visit the sites but another teacher or even a pupil could have. 8O They could have infected the PC. And it could ruin her life

[Off-The-Chart]

ok so it was wrong if it was her doing it, but c'mon, 40 years??

I have seen guys that kill or rob that get less than that...

[lmm]

i think there was possible a larg investigation into it.
i dont think they would go into this lightly.

[viceroy]

ok so it was wrong if it was her doing it, but c'mon, 40 years??

I have seen guys that kill or rob that get less than that...

Ya but she's not in SA like those guys

[lmm]

i agree with the 40 years.

[Moses]

This is the first article I've read that has put the guilty spin on this case... in fact, if you look here : http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/4358 , you will see the author retracted his statements. Don't be so quick to judge!

[Psych0_Cr1tt3r]

I sleep soundly knowing judicial systems are doing their jobs properly.

[lmm]

I sleep soundly knowing judicial systems are doing their jobs properly.

in SA????

[Mikdog]

Geez...if that was a practical joke by some of the pupils, that's like...intense. And it will go down as the best and worse practical joke ever played on a sub.

And 40 years behind bars for looking at naked bodies of humans in front of other humans? In 20 years time, we'll LAUGH at that logic. It's an oppressive system we live in...well, not always, but this just takes the cake. Looking at photographs of someone else's skin whilst children are there, and getting put behind bars for 40 years? It's like kids are going to be mentally scarred by the most natural act in history? What the hell could be more natural or a better education?

I TOTALLY disagree with this. TOTALLY TOTALLY TOTALLY. Uppity brainwashed n00bs make it seem so perverse and downright dirty. It's pictures of people without clothes on, for Jimminy's sake, in positions that are assumed to continue the human species through birth. What in the HELL is wrong with that? Somebody TELL me why I'm wrong.

[SoulBlade]

What if it was pop-ups? Some of the elderly don't know much of the net.
AND 7th grades mentally scarred of seeing acts that they are probably doing already?

I had porn pop-ups @ work from non-porn sites. Does that mean I need 40 years. And if it appeared by ACCIDENT on screen while a co-worker's 7th grader was watching. What then?

[Mikdog]

The, SouldBlade my friend, you are screwed.

[Tribble]

Read the comments. Anyways it has been proven that worms can cause masses of porn popup's on pc. And Computer illiterate people are susceptible to clicking that "Get a Ipod for free ad's"

If this was spyware, I hope they catch the culprits and give them a 400 year sentence.

If not, May she rot in jail...

It is true. I happened to me. I was training at Ogilvy and during one of the tea breaks we were surfing. Went to Fortuneteller.com and at least 12 windows opened with explicit porn. Try being calm and keeping your colour in a room full of guys! It was before firewalls and such - still Windows early versions. I still want to die when I remember those comments!

[SoulBlade]

Damn, I wish I was a dog. Not a problem in the world and I can hump that neighbour's small poodle all day long...

[Hex_Rated]

@MikDog: What would you do if some dirty old man sat down with and showed some hardcore p0rn to your 11 year old daughter? Be alright with it?

But anyways I think this woman is innocent. They didnt even scan her PC for spyware. The judge fell asleep in court. WTF??

[PsyCLown]

I agree with SoulBlade.
I also think she is inncoent.

I was at school at the PC centre and googling for pictures of snakes and ladders as I had to make a game. Then all of a sudden there is a picture of a random nacked chick. I had the google filter on and all. I was actually talking to a person next to me while the page was loading, then it had finished loading and my friend next to me actually told me there was pr0n on my screen. Imagine if a teacher had seen it...I would have been in BIG trouble and it wasnt even my fault!

[Sojourn]

For all intentions and puposes I deem her innocent.

s

For some of the people leaving comments with questions, here is a recap of what we know:

- This was a classroom computer, not her personal computer. She was substitute teaching for the day.

- A forensic examination by an expert, W. Herbert Horne, showed that the machine was infected with porn-spewing spyware. All the evidence suggests that these were popups created by a piece of malware on the computer. Surpringly, the prosecution admits that it made no search made for spyware during its investigation.

- The forensic expert also found that here were multiple user accounts on the computer, and porn had been on the computer for quite some time.

- David Smith, the prosecutor, said that Amero intended to access the pornographic sites because she had to "physically click" to "get to those sites". The statement is so patently wrong it boggles the mind. As anyone here knows, when a popup occurs, it gets logged as a normal website visit (as well as the graphic material itself) and no “physical click” is necessary. Fwiw -- the "graphic images" in question were all in the Temporary Internet Files directory.

- Much of the case apparently came down to the prosecution's self-righteous statement that "she should have turned off the computer", which is ridiculous considering the circumstances.

Amero was a substitute teacher under strict orders by the school administrators not to turn off the computer. She certainly did try to keep the children from viewing this material, at every instance blocking the children from being able to see the popups by physically standing in their way or pushing them away. She also did report the situation, first telling a a fellow teacher in the teachers lounge at lunch time. One teacher said she would go get the principal and never did. This teacher also told Amero that pop ups happen all the time and that its not a big deal. During the day in question, Amero was waiting for an administrator to come to her class and help her and no one did. At the end of the day she reported the problem to the assistant principal, who said don't worry about it, that the school would take care of it and to go home.

In other words, this was not a case of a "teacher surfing porn". This was an accident caused by poorly maintained computer equipment.

- Not that it’s probably legally relevant, but the activities of the court may have cause for some suspicion. One source reports that the Trial Judge, Hillary Strackbein, “was seen falling asleep during proceedings and made comments to the jury that she wanted the case over by the end of the week. It was also reported that Judge Strackbein attempted to pressure the defense into an unwanted plea deal, in place of a trial. The defense attorney for Amero, moved for a mistrial shortly before closing arguments Friday, based on reports that jurors had discussed the case at a local restaurant.” (I believe that the judge questioned the jurors subsequently and they denied having discussed the case.)

- The school didn't even have up-to-date content filtering in place. Even the federal government requires content filtering for schools that receive federal funding, as mandated by CIPA — the Children's Internet Protection Act. (I don’t know if they were receiving federal funding, but it’s irrelevant. Adequate content filtering is a basic requirement for any school.)

- The sites in question were sites like meetlovers(dot)com, which is like adultfriendfinder. It's the type of popup you would see in a spyware infection.

- To answer one comment, yes, I have offered my company's services on a pro-bono basis to the defense for a forensic examination and testimony.

Amero refused to back down during the trial, turning away opportunities for a plea bargain. She's lost this round, but I hope it can get reversed on appeal.

Alex Eckelberry
President, Sunbelt Software

[SoulBlade]

Most PCF members considered her guilty on page 1. No wonder the jury found her guilty. Disgusting...

How quick are we to jump to conclusions before knowing all the facts.

[Ike]

Read the comments. Anyways it has been proven that worms can cause masses of porn popup's on pc. And Computer illiterate people are susceptible to clicking that "Get a Ipod for free ad's"

If this was spyware, I hope they catch the culprits and give them a 400 year sentence.

If not, May she rot in jail...

It is true. I happened to me. I was training at Ogilvy and during one of the tea breaks we were surfing. Went to Fortuneteller.com and at least 12 windows opened with explicit porn. Try being calm and keeping your colour in a room full of guys! It was before firewalls and such - still Windows early versions. I still want to die when I remember those comments!

Rule nr.1: There is an screen on/off switch for a reason. I speak from experience!

[SoulBlade]

Rule nr.1: There is an screen on/off switch for a reason. I speak from experience!

True.

BUT...

Remember crossing a street and there's a car coming straight at you @ 200kph? You freeze.

Same could have happened with the lady. Hell, It happens to me too.

When naked images splash across your screen, the on/off button will not be on most people's minds...

[Squirly]

This is jsut another case of prudish, righteous america getting a hissy fit because of boobs.

And I've had the experience of porn pop-up ads displaying without warning or me asking. That is, amongst other things, what spyware does.

However, some say that she actually clicked on some pictures and went to several sites.

Spyware doesn't make me do that.

[WiK1d]

Rule nr.1: There is an screen on/off switch for a reason. I speak from experience!

I can vouch for that