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Thread: what do you suggest... (you won't believe the stupidity)

  1. #21
    Here is a SANS news item on a California Blood Bank:

    http://news.com.com/2102-1029_3-5500...=st.util.print

    Keep in mind that the California law is pretty open ended. All you have to do is conduct business in California for the law to apply. That includes online transactions, distance learning (that's a big one for me), and any other relationship where your customer is residing in the state of California. No matter where you may be, that constitutes doing business in California.

    As I understand it, other states are seriously considering this type of legislation.

    nihil would call this a sticky wicket, with twinkies on top.

  2. #22
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    Here in Michigan, it is illegal to steal someone's property, including trash. Be very careful if you wish to contact this organization, if it were me, I would press charges against you for larsony. Even though trash is obviously trash, it is still property, and the same laws apply to it as do normal belongings.

    If I were you, I would do a gutmann wipe on the hard drive and forget about the whole thing. I would definitely NOT be bragging about it on a public message board that if the company searches for there name on the internet will find and trace back to you. But they say all criminals want to be caught, so good luck with that.

  3. #23
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    Originally posted here by The3ntropy
    Here in Michigan, it is illegal to steal someone's property, including trash. Be very careful if you wish to contact this organization, if it were me, I would press charges against you for larsony. Even though trash is obviously trash, it is still property, and the same laws apply to it as do normal belongings.

    If I were you, I would do a gutmann wipe on the hard drive and forget about the whole thing. I would definitely NOT be bragging about it on a public message board that if the company searches for there name on the internet will find and trace back to you. But they say all criminals want to be caught, so good luck with that.
    bottom of page 2, link to supreme court ruling that trash is trash, I have found no other federal rulings to state that trash is not public property, please post a reference?
    Ron Paul: Hope for America
    http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

  4. #24
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    Wow, this thread has grown pretty big over this kinda topic. Good dive unhappy, you found a new box and it is yours. No one is going to leave a computer on the side of the road if they didn't want it. If you hadn't taken it, the next person that walked by would have. As for the hardrive, if you want to keep it, format and reinstall.
    You shall no longer take things at second or third hand,
    nor look through the eyes of the dead...You shall listen to all
    sides and filter them for your self.
    -Walt Whitman-

  5. #25
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    Local ordinances can make dumpster diving illegal in any area in the US, ignorance of the law is no excuse and you can and will still be prosecuted if it turns out to be illegal in your specific area. Trespassing is also illegal, and if anybody sees you and instructs you not to return, it would be trespassing if you did.

    Bottom line is that ordinances can and do in many areas make stealing trash illegal. If I were you, I would learn about law before you sadly attempt to use it.

    And again, if I were a member of the organization you listed, I would notice you posting about stolen property and subpoena AntiOnline for your IP address, then goto your ISP with that IP address and time log information about when you made the posts to find your name and addres, then I would contact a local police agency to charge you with larsony.

    And by the way, you should be banned for posting about this:
    (from the AUP)
    a) Transmit any message, information, data, text, software or images, or other content ("Material") that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, or otherwise objectionable that may invade another's right of privacy or publicity;
    h) Violate any applicable local, state, national or international law;

  6. #26
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    Originally posted here by The3ntropy
    Local ordinances can make dumpster diving illegal in any area in the US, ignorance of the law is no excuse and you can and will still be prosecuted if it turns out to be illegal in your specific area. Trespassing is also illegal, and if anybody sees you and instructs you not to return, it would be trespassing if you did.

    Bottom line is that ordinances can and do in many areas make stealing trash illegal. If I were you, I would learn about law before you sadly attempt to use it.

    And again, if I were a member of the organization you listed, I would notice you posting about stolen property and subpoena AntiOnline for your IP address, then goto your ISP with that IP address and time log information about when you made the posts to find your name and addres, then I would contact a local police agency to charge you with larsony.

    Whoa there partner, did you read the 1st post? He said that the box was out on the street, which as far as I know, streets are public property and you can't tresspass there... As I said in my posts, once trash or property is set on the street/curb/sidewalk it IS public property according to our US supreme court. If there are local ordinances against taking trash, they would have to file a case, and the court would most likely take the supreme court ruling as presidence (sp?). Please correct me if i'm wrong and post references.
    Ron Paul: Hope for America
    http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

  7. #27
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    Ordinances are not applicable to supreme court rulings. Ordinances such as no loud verbal obscenities in public do not violate some dumb little kid's freedom of speech. And I highly doubt that the trash was sitting 'on' the street. I have never seen trash that gets set out on the actual street for pickup.

    One more thing, ordinances do not have to file 'cases' to penalize someone. You are not going to have 'your day in court' because you broke an ordinance. The judge would throw it out before you got anywhere with that. Just as an officer does not need to file a case to give you a traffic ticket, neither does he need to do it to give you a fine for violating an ordinance. Or in this case it would be a misdemeanor for larsony which could give you some jail time.

    Contact a your local attorney or law enforcement agency to verify what the local ordinances are in your area.


    precedence

  8. #28
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    I have never seen trash that gets set out on the actual street for pickup.
    We do it here.............for TVs, computers, refrigerators, washing machines etc. There are special collections for domestic appliances, recyclables and stuff that contains dangerous materials.

  9. #29
    Let's not get our collective tails in a twist. We all live in different jurisdictions, so our takes on some concepts may be a bit different. What is important here isn't that unhappy found a computer on the side of the street, but that the contents on that computer have far-reaching potential consequences.

    He was asking for our opinions on what the "right thing" to do would be. Remember, the information on the hard drive could be yours!

    I think unhappy should contact the company or the media. Maybe an atttorney first. But, the company, in some way, needs to be informed of the potential breach. unhappy should be held harmless in this case. It was, after all, found property--for all we know it may have been left behind by a thief. If it was on public property, it was the responsible citizen's duty to secure it. If unhappy wants to keep the found computer, imaging the drive before destroying the information may be a good idea. This way, the data can be returned to the company, if required.

    All in all, the right thing to do is to find a way to inform the company of the breach. unhappy does not need to do this personally, but may retain a proxy (attorney or the media) to perform this action. In the US, broadcast media have no protections under the law to maintain source secrecy. Print media does have that protection under the Constitution.

    So, unhappy, those are my thoughts.

  10. #30
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    I think it's a little harsh to talk about how one would go about filing charges, subpoenaing AO for ISP info, then getting the police involved, etc...all over a PC that was on the road. It's a computer. In this day and age, it's common (in my area at least) to see people putting all kinds of things on the curb/etc. Sometimes there's even signs saying "TAKE THIS, FREE OF CHARGE!". I've seen couches, chairs, tables, furniture, tvs, AND computers. People will take things for free or they'll pick them up if it's sitting on the curb. One man's trash, another man's treasure, et al...

    And to get into the semantics of "Well, it was tilted off the grass onto the street of which 73.6% of the machine was in the road which is public property so by default the item in question is now considered 'free for all'."...well, that's kind of useless.

    He found a PC, picked it up, just as Lansing_Banda said if he didn't, the next guy in line would have, could've been of the "dubious" sort, and started having a field day with those SSNs.
    We the willing, led by the unknowing, have been doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much with so little for so long that we are now qualified to do just about anything with almost nothing.

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