why worry, as inept as our justice system is this is much ado about nothing. if they can't/won't put murderers and rapists in prison it stands to reason they will screw up these cases too.
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why worry, as inept as our justice system is this is much ado about nothing. if they can't/won't put murderers and rapists in prison it stands to reason they will screw up these cases too.
That's what is gonna suck :P Correct me if I am wrong, but are really, really skilled crakers going to know their way around the wiretaps, sniffers, and federal watchdogs while the the little guy gets slapped around? I mean, it seems the cracker has the upper hand here ...Quote:
why worry, as inept as our justice system is this is much ado about nothing. if they can't/won't put murderers and rapists in prison it stands to reason they will screw up these cases too.
I really dont like the idea of it hackers only explores the net and it's vulnerabilities maybe they can past bills to give a life sentence to those crakers not HACKERS.
In the Government's mind, hacker includes both. They make no distinction, and have probably watched War Games and Sneakers a few too many times. I know they want to keep enemies of the US from possibly hacking in and bringing down financial institutions, but I don't think that they needed an extra law/bill/political piece of mumbo-jumbo to do it. It's not like they aren't already monitoring everything anyway, so what's the point of internet wiretaps? Looks to me like a bunch of smokescreen, hot air, and political posturing.Quote:
Originally posted here by Sgear17
I really dont like the idea of it hackers only explores the net and it's vulnerabilities maybe they can past bills to give a life sentence to those crakers not HACKERS.
God Bless the Govt.
My thought is this...The gov't does not have the manpower nor the expertise to carry out an "internet-wide" monitoring operation. I'm pretty sure they're not going to be monitoring grandma's little ebay shoppng adventure as much as the irc chat channel titled "how to hack the us gov't" or the website disclosing hacking tools and tips for breaking into financial institutions. Bottom line, if we're worried about our email being turned over to the cops we should stop worrying, unless we're emailing Al Queda floorplans of the White House or something tripped out like that. Tust me, if I were on the other end of the wiretap, I sure wouldn't be concerned with grandma's shopping or a hello between friends.
-the eeshman
"prohibition" on ads? wtf is this? prohibition never works, haven't they figured it out yet? I do agree that if anyone dies as a result of a computer crime they should be considered for a life sentence, just as if they had killed them personally. Injury however depends on the severity. Doesn't seem like they clarify very much on the specifics though...
oh yeah, any one know how to go about making a flower illegal?
Whoa...Nothing has been passed into law yet. This thing still faces the Senate. While I understand that this bill appears to have been written by a bevy of paranoid delusionals, there have been SEVERAL bills passed by the House that don't exactly meet logical muster that eventually die in the Senate. Here's why:
<brief civics lesson>
Since each Senator is elected every 6 years, and only 1/3rd of the Senate is elected every 2 years, it stands to reason that Senators (by and large) have the ability to withstand voting for or against politically sensitive bills solely because they may offend voters a bit better than Representatives. Representatives are elected every 2 years, and are therefore much more at the mercy of public opinion.
</brief civics lesson>
I share everyone's concern about this bill. I believe it would be a troubling addition to the multitude of changes that have taken place recently all in the name of 'homeland security', but in this particular case I wouldn't be surprised if the Senate throws it right back to the House for further review. Extreme legislation on technology hasn't had an easy time in the Senate (With obvious exceptions, of course). In any case, it's nice to see everyone here concerned about upcoming bills. I'm glad AO is politically active!
I'm not sure why they are bothering with this. Between Carnivore, Echelon, and The Patriot Act, our government is currently omnipotent (but thankfully not omniscient) on the internet.
Here is a chart of the surveillance powers granted to the government by The Patriot Act courtesy of ACLU.org:
http://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy/P...Chart_law.html
This bill was passed specifically for dealing with "terrorists", and internet activity is included. Combine the broad definition of "terrorism" with essentially unchecked power (the agencies in question don't answer to either a judge or the public) and unlimited surveillance (internet 'content' is not defined). Add to that arrests/detainees are categorized as "military combatants", subject to military style justice, and frankly, a citizen could rot in a military prison indefinately for perceived "terrorist" activity (hacking included) under the CURRENT law.
I don't want anyone to think I like this bill, I don't. But let us not be as reactionary as a petulant child or a congressman.
The life sentence can only be applied if the person is malicious and it endangers life. As long as they do not bring into account that it endangers data or monetary loss then the life sentence would only be used if the hacking were in conjuction with something designed to do damage. I can think of a couple of scenarios: Terrorist attack that begins by disabling a computer system to shut down alarms. Malicious hacker who shuts off fire suppression or some other critical safety system. Even in these cases it would be difficult to prove that the hacker was actually intending to cause harm to anyone.
So again what we really have is a sensational headline that makes people think something is really being done when it isn't. Even the beginning of thier anti-hacker organization. 125 million? Is that a joke? That is what the FBI pays for lawn care. This is going to be just enough to start a small buearocracy with self important managers, cute secretarys, ugly desks and a few Comp Sci grads that couldn't make it in the real world (maybe they will hire me :D ).
No the real tragedy here is the continued erosion of our civil liberties. I am a staunch conservative and have been stunned at how quickly we are selling our rights down the river of perceived safety. This start with the Patriot's act and has continued with other bills and now this one is carrying on the proud tradition. They have not sold us out completely yet because content is still protected, however they have eased up restrictions on our ISP's checking even that and reporting it.
Some might say that only the guilty need to be afraid. I find that argument bilious and insufficient. I am not a malicious hacker, I am a Network Security Officer and a casual computer user at home. However, it was the loss of these same types of rights that led to even greater abuses in places like Post WW-I Germany, and Post revolutionary Russia. We aren't there yet, we aren't even close yet, but that is the road down which we are trudging. Now is the time to stop the erosion of our rights before it is too late and we sink into a mire of our own fear and loathing.
That's my opinion and no it isn't humble :p
Man does anybody else feel like the book "1984" is coming to life? I feel like the uninformed and unintelligent majority are slowly but surely placing the noose around all of our necks! We already have cameras on every highway, grocery store, park, work place, and any other damn place you can think of and people actually think this makes them safer! You have these idiot politicians who are dumber than **** casting votes "DAILY" on behalf of their constituents and they're not even in touch with 1/3 of them! By the time you as a regular citizen get hold of the information that a bill is being voted on in congress by your local dumbass congressman(who you probably didn't vote for anyway) your little letter of concern don't mean piss to him because he's voted on it already! Jeesh! Then you get these guys: [Business Software Alliance, the Association for Competitive Technology, the Information Technology Association of America, and the Information Technology Industry Council, have endorsed most portions of CSEA] You know these guys will do anything to have votes cast in their favor to keep the dollars rolling into their pockets! Man pack your **** and head to the hills, it's going to get alot worst from here!