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Sasser fan club stops rattling tin

Fundraising abandoned at under $100

Supporters of the self-confessed author of the Sasser worm, Sven Jaschan, have abandoned attempts to raise money on his behalf.

A brief notice on the support site explains: "Actually, we were unable to get a hold of Mr. Jaschan in a timely manner, so we have decided to stop our fundraiser. Losing the paypal account didn't exactly improve the case either, and it seems all other online payment services have even worse fees." Any dosh handed was earmarked for giving Jaschan a good time before his case comes to court rather than towards paying legal fees.

All donations - which failed to reach $100 - will be refunded. The site has been closed after only a week in operation, so Sasser supporters - who insist that the worm was a "harmless wake-up call" - have lost their Web presence. While it's true that the worm could have contained a more destructive payload we rather doubt the many organisation whose systems were laid low by Sasser would back this sentiment.

18-year-old Jaschan was arrested in the village of Waffensen near Rotenburg, in northern Germany, on 7 May in connection with writing and distributing the Sasser worm. He later confessed to police that he was both the author of Sasser and the original author of the NetSky worm. Police are expected to lay computer sabotage charges against Jaschan, who has been released on bail pending further proceedings.

Last week German police raided five homes and questioned five further suspects as the inquiry into the release of the NetSky worm series widened. ®

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