Hypothetical Legal Question

[GomiGirl]

Say a contractor causes a malicious "disruption of service" on a server for say 2 days, does any contract with said contractor become null and void?

[GomiGirl]

Hypothetically, upload some software he'd developed on his own (but not commissioned), onto a server for evaluation, then when it was decided that the project was not going to go ahead used the password to shut down the whole site. Payments had been made for work completed to effect the evaluation.

Naturally this is hypothetical as a real situation would be extremely complicated.

[Taro Toporific]

Say a contractor causes a malicious "disruption of service" on a server for say 2 days, does any contract with said contractor become null and void?

It would depend on your "non-performance" clause in the Real World.
Here in Japan, whether your contract was 'in breach' would depend on the dread case-by-case:(, but the Japanese look very negatively upon any malicious breach of faith.

Was that 'disruption of service' a "material breach" of the contract?
Read a non-Japanese legal opinon of this is at:
http://www.rnoon.com/lawlaymen/contracts/performance.html

[GomiGirl]

Lets just say that instead of picking up a phone or sending an email to discuss a particular issue, a contractor hypothetically but none-the-less maliciously used a root password (provided in good faith) and shut down a whole web-site without warning.

I said to my friend, who this hypothetical situation concerns, that I would consider the actions as a breach of faith causing damages and disruption of commercial services. Therefore any further claim that this contractor may have is void.

I really think my friend needs to talk with a lawyer.. any suggestions that I can offer to them?

[GomiGirl]

Actually my friend is just wanting the contractor to go away. He has been verbally abusive over the phone and email demanding more money to which he is not entitled. (I guess it is this sort of belligerant person that would shut down a web-site in the first place.)

The server in question was in the US on a co-lo. My friend is in Japan and the contractor is in another country.

The contractors contract was a very short document involving standard NDA clauses. As it was not a commission the details were kept to a minimum.

He has already been paid a certain amount, then he shut down the server in the US demanding more money. This has dragged on for a while now and the abusive phone calls and email harrasment have been increasing of late. Physical threats have been involved.

Would a breach of contract letter suffice? It is preferrable that this thing not escalate but also my friend is loathe to pay a settlement considering the principles at stake.