Legal Question in Technology Law in Arkansas

Hello, a friend and I had got together and wrote a computer prank. Upon near completion we got to thinking if it was legal or not. There are two parts to the prank. The client and the server. The server is sent to a friend who is being pranked. Upon running the executable, nothing visually happens. The friend performing the prank has the client. With the client he/she can then perform the following pranks on their friend:

open internet explorer, hide desktop icons, open notepad, turn off keyboard and mouse input, turn off the computer, hide the mouse, give an error message box, reverse the mouse, make the desktop icons blink, turn on a screensaver, hide the task manager, minimize all open windows, flip the screen upside down once, flip the screen upside down and right side up continuously, open/close cd rom tray.

The prank does not delete, add, or modify any files or folders. The prank cannot download anything from the other computer. The prank does not do anything malicious. The client talks to the server via a yahoo messenger login. The client sends commands to the server through yahoo messenger protocol. Once the server (prank side) receives the command, it performs the selected prank. We want to make sure it is not illegal since so many new laws are coming in to effect.

Thank you for your time


Asked on 9/13/12, 10:53 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

I don't know about the law where you live, but here in California what you describe would be a crime. It's informally called computer trespass. My guess is that Arkansas law makes it a crime, too.

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Answered on 9/13/12, 1:01 pm


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