Image by andywalker via Flickr

Four years ago, Julie Aronson, Connecticut substitute teacher, faced up to 40 years in prison after being convicted of endangering minors. Why? Apparently, her computer became infected with spyware that started displaying pornographic images, which were inadvertently viewed by the students in her class.

Computer security professionals, including Sunbelt Software Inc, CEO Alex Eckelberry, argued that Aronson was an innocent victim of the spyware program.

“The stress of this thing, it just totally freaked her out, “Eckelberry, who led the team of computer investigators responsible for analyzing the school computer used by Aronson, told ComputerWorld. “For four years, she’s been sitting there with this thing hanging over her.”

So are we responsible for the spyware, adware, and viruses that infect our computers? Are we responsible for the content that these programs may display? If the prosecutors in this case had been able to make the charges stick, we might be facing a brave new world in which virus creators have much, much more control over our lives than anyone deserves to have.

A guilty verdict would have opened the floodgates for similar cases, and made us all question the motives of our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and the computers that use.

As it is, Aronson will pay a fine of $100 and have her Connecticut teaching credentials revoked. For Aronson, who was pregnant at the time of the 2004 incident, this is undoubtedly a small price to pay.