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Comment by arianvanp | Hacker News Reader

IANAL but connecting to any of these VNC's listened here is probably a felony . At least in the netherlands it probably is. Eventhough these are open to the public, the intention was probably to be private. Deliberately connecting to something that has the mere intention to be private is a felony here. [0]

[0] http://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0001854/TweedeBoek/TitelV/Arti...

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You are probably right, at least in some jurisdictions. If in doubt, just use the web VNC client (click on the screenshot).

The web client uses our machine to proxy the websocket connection the client uses to the VNC server and we don't collect user data, especially not who used the VNC client to connect to which server.

A SSL certificate that doesn't help people get used to ignoring certificate errors can be had for free from StartSSL or for less than ten euros from a company that has a UI that won't make you want to cry.

We actually tried a StartSSL certificate, but got OCSP errors with (at least) Firefox. We'll retry the certificate in the (very) near future, maybe it just takes a while for the OCSP information to trickle through after creating a cert.

If I remember correctly, with StartSSL you have to wait for up to 24 hours before the OCSP servers are updated. I ran into the same issue with my last certificate from them, just have some patience :)

I don't think "I used a proxy" will hold up in court though.

I certainly hope I will not be convicted of a felony for clicking on a screenshot.

That's disingenuous. I certainly hope I will not be convicted of a felony for opening a door.

That sort of feels like telling someone to wear gloves while they snoop around my house, or getting someone else to do it for them, and you thinking it's okay because we left a door unlocked.

What was that thing Warren Buffett wrote recently, with regard to moral decisions? "If anyone gives this explanation, tell them to try using it with a reporter or a judge and see how far it gets them."

Edit: a word

Wow. That is an aggressive law.

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