An appeals court in Leeuwarden, Netherlands has upheld the
conviction of 22-year old Jan de Wit, author of last year's
Kournikova worm which resulted in a sentence of 150 hours of
community service. The worm, spread in February 2001, was
distributed by an e-mail that claimed to carry pictures of tennis
star Anna Kournikova.
Jan de Wit admitted that he created the worm by using a virus
creation toolkit. However, he claimed that he posted the virus to a
newsgroup "without thinking" of the consequences, and that no
damage was intended or proven. The court rejected his
arguments.
De Wit, who was charged for distributing data with the intention
of damaging a computer network, was initially convicted by a Dutch
district court in September 2001. The country's maximum sentence
for the offence is 10 years in prison and a fine of approximately
£26,500.
