A 30-year-old New Jersey man has been arrested and charged with creating the Melissa virus. New Jersey Attorney General Peter Verniero said that David L. Smith, an onsite consultant for AT&T Labs in Florham Park, will be charged with interrupting public communications, conspiracy and theft of computer service. These are second- and third-degree felonies and carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and a $480,000 fine. Smith was released on $100,000 bail.
Phar Lap Software’s Richard Smith had used the Global Unique Identifier (GUID), a controversial Microsoft document serial number, to trace Melissa to a Florida-based virus author, calling him or herself VicodinES after a US brand of painkiller. Authorities say they believe Smith is a different person who downloaded and modified viruses written by that author. Lawyers and technicians from America Online (AOL) helped federal and state agencies trace the virus to Monmouth Internet Corp, where Smith is a subscriber. Monmouth handed over its records of internet use for March 26, the day the virus appeared.
Smith was arrested on Thursday night. On Saturday, his lawyers said he never intended to do anything wrong. The computer world is a world where people do things, experimental things, just about every day, lawyer Steven Altman told the Associated Press. Nothing he did, or intended to do, had a premeditated or wrongful intent. Altman said Smith will plead innocent on state charges.
