E-Mail Bug Made Computers Phone Emergency Line

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Louisiana man has pleaded guilty to sending rigged e-mails that caused some computers to dial the 911 emergency services number, prosecutors said on Monday.

David Jeansonne, 44, admitted to sending e-mails to about 20 subscribers of Microsoft's WebTV, a television Internet service since renamed MSN TV.

An attachment to the e-mail rewrote the user's access WebTV number to

911 so that the next time the service was used, calls to WebTV in Santa Clara, California were diverted.

"This prompted unnecessary emergency police dispatches at numerous locations around the country in July 2002," the U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of California said in a statement.

"At least 10 WebTV users reported that the local police either called or visited their residences in response to the unnecessary 9-1-1 calls."

Jeansonne faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of intentionally damaging computers and causing a public safety threat.

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