Advice needed - kid wanting p 0rn removed from pc

We do onsite computer support as a side business, and my wife got a call today from a teenager (she's guessing about 14) who was using his dad's laptop to look at p0rn. well, he wanted to pay us to take the stuff off and make sure that they wouldn't be able to find out.

He ended up hanging up, cuase his dad walked in, so we never actually set anything up. my wife called me at work to tell me about it, and I got to thinking wether we should even do something like that.

I'd like to hear people's opinion-- i am not interested in the moral side of things, just the legal ramification side of things. as for as the moral side- im not comforable helping a 14yr old kid decieve his parents.

please put in your 2cents....

Thanks

Joe

I have a general rule not to work on a puter without the owner's knowledge.

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Originally Posted by Outcoded

I have a general rule not to work on a puter without the owner's knowledge.

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Very good point. But.... having once been a dumb 14 year old, what I would do is "tell" the kid what to do. Do it all the time with the users in the office about their home machines (non-p0rn). I tell them get a piece of paper and they do the writing. In this case, the kid can read it and decide if he should go one step further and possibly blow up dad's pc.

Another one is tell him play dumb, leave the pc online, and when mom or dad find it, say he has no idea what happend. Start getting pissed off like"Dad, what kind of crap antivirus do you have?" Hey, maybe the kids like Ferris Bueller.

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Originally Posted by Outcoded

I have a general rule not to work on a puter without the owner's knowledge.

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Ya, that's my rule also.

Lying to cover up an indescretion is always the wrong way out. I wouldn't want to be an accomplice.

from a strictly legal perspective AFAIK a minor cannot enter into a contrct (verbal or written) so just to protect yourself you should choose not to help out.

Ok, porn is bad? But what if it's child porn? Then what do you do? I would leave that call unanswered. A 14 year old can not legally enter into a verbal or written contract. You do not have permission from the owner to work on their computer. Walk, no, run away.

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Originally Posted by MobilePCPhysician

Ok, porn is bad? But what if it's child porn?

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Where did child porn come from??? Who mentioned ANYTHING about that? You bad girl you.https://forums.windrivers.com/images.../2005/03/1.gif

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Originally Posted by MobilePCPhysician

Ok, porn is bad? But what if it's child porn? Then what do you do? I would leave that call unanswered. A 14 year old can not legally enter into a verbal or written contract. You do not have permission from the owner to work on their computer. Walk, no, run away.

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You little twit. He was asking for opinions. A 14 yr. old calls and says he's been viewing porn. He did not specify what type of porn. I was hypothisizing further. I posted my opinion. Why don't you stop trying to provoke me? You would go there and try and charge the kid, and copy the porn for your own amusement.

Triple L Ltd. LOSER

My 2 pennies. If the kid rang back I'd at least give him some precautions to take, like cache clearing and so on. Simple steps to cover himself. We've all been in a situation as teens where we've dug ourselves a hole. Give the kid a break. Don't touch the laptop obviously but a little advice to help an inquisitive teen will make everyone happy.

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Originally Posted by craigmodius

from a strictly legal perspective AFAIK a minor cannot enter into a contrct (verbal or written) so just to protect yourself you should choose not to help out.

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It's even easier here. This seems like an onsite call. In canada, unless some one of age of majaority (18 where i'm at) allows you into the house, your are trespassing. No onsite person around here would go out to do that call unless an older person let them in.

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Originally Posted by craigmodius

from a strictly legal perspective AFAIK a minor cannot enter into a contrct (verbal or written) so just to protect yourself you should choose not to help out.

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Ok ... so this seems emminently reasonable & is the jist of what everyone is saying (besides the odd diversion :devil: ) ...

Except of course it means that no-one ever should ever sell things to minors, here you can, but they can't enter into credit agreements or service agreements - as they promise future services (which I'm fairly sure is actually the position in the US) - so if he paid cash .. you could ??

Remember no morals in this ..

I would advise said kid to bite the bullet and go talk to his father, but I wouldn't touch the machine without the father's permission.

Since it's illegal in most states (I don't know about NY) for persons under the age of 21, 18 or 16, depending on the state, to view pornography, you could theoretically be committing a crime by helping him remove it from the computer. Tell him to have his daddy call you and leave it at that.

alotta 'what if' scenarios can be grown from this question that joelen posed, but sticking with the basic question, I'm saying you can and should C.Y.A. by adhering to the legal point that minors can't enter into a contract.

I don't do home PC work for a living (i do a little work on the side for home PC users), so take my advice for what it's worth... But I think if you're going to work on someone's PC you should have them sign a disclaimer that states things to the effect of they are the actual owner of the system you're going to work on, they agree not to hold you responsible for lost data, they agree to pay you up front etc. etc. This is basically a contract and AFAIK a minor can't be held to this. So that disclaimer should say, I certify that I'm of legal age etc.

so bearing that in mind confused-ed, when you say...

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Except of course it means that no-one ever should ever sell things to minors, here you can, but they can't enter into credit agreements or service agreements - as they promise future services (which I'm fairly sure is actually the position in the US) - so if he paid cash .. you could ??

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If he does not protect himself with a written service disclaimer (contract), then he leaves himself open to all kinds of potential trouble.

I'm saying as a matter of Policy you should not work on someone's system unless they are over 18. It's in you best interest. Plus if you don't have one already you should have your customers signing some kinda disclaimer to protect yourself.

he could certainly give the kid free advice as was suggested but anything past that is a slippery slope.

hmm... I wonder what a car repair shop does for a 17yr old motorist???