is there anyway around the USAPA?

i was watching tech tv today and they had john barlow on as a guest speaker and hes talkin about the USAPA(united states patriot act) and what it really means and the impact its going to have on computer users.after the interview i went to the site link that they had provided and found a very good artical summerizing this act to "fight against terroist" http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveilla..._analysis.html and after i get done reading this my first thought was "ok i switched to linux for higher security and so i had complete control over my o/s and so i wouldnt have to put up with M$'s crap, was my switch totally pointless?" so now i have 2 questions.the first one is, is there anyway were i can feel secure surfin what ever i want to and d/l what ever i want without these jackass's watching me(i have the firewall set at high, and run a proxie, and have a prog that erases all data from my comp after typing it in a web site like unames and passwds, and any info pertaing to myself). so is there any settings that i can change or delete in redhat 7.2, which is what i run(2.4.7 kernel) so that it would make it so that no one can monitor me?and my second question is if so how do i do it, i have read alot lately on linux and have learned alot but i am one of those ppl that i never feel secure enough when browsing.I understand that they get there info from isp's and i could never totally avoid be watched but im looking for a way to make it very difficult for them.any help would be greatly appreciated.BTW i doubt anyone cares but i felt very proud of my self last night, after 9 hours and 2 pots of coffee and a pack of newports, i made my first working kernel which i compiled and installed alsa drivers along with some ac patches. all just because i wanted my sound card to work so i could listen to my music.I like my music ;) take it easy people.

Yes, there is a way around the USAPA... get a really really really really good lawyer...
or
move to a different country?
or
Don't do anything to make you a "suspect". I doubt that they are watching joe shmoe in his basement read up on model trains. ;)

The PA allows our SS to have packet sniffers at major listening point. No matter how you try to mask your ID they can sniff what your downloading and trace it to your ip address just like the music people do sniffing streams for certain signitures. the only way around this is with a phony account only used at places other than your home. using a string of proxys dosn't protect your id from your computer to the first proxy.

if someone finds a way around this i certainly hope their not foolish enough to publish it on a public board like this so big brother can find a way to get around their get around

sorry if this is a useless post, but it sounds to me that either you are doing something very wrong and dont want to get caught. or you are a very high strung person? i mean, if you are just an ordinary person, why would you be so worried about people monitoring your computer?

TN123

no i have no reason to get caught for anything, i havent done anything wrong. im doing anything stupid.but in the interview with john barlow they were not just monitoring terrorist or ppl they believed had done something wrong, they were monitoring joe blow.they pulled 10,000 accounts to look at them to see if anyone had ordered i think it was called hospice or something like that, it was osme food that arabs eat, and they did this cause arabs and other middle eastrens are being accused of all terroist acts on the USA.so if there looking for that kinda stuff, it makes me wonder what else there watching for.they admited of pulling account info for ppl that viseted certain sites.so yes they are looking for anyone and everyone, not just ppl who are being "stupid". and its part paranoia and part anger because i belive they have no right to do what they are doing. and so i dont wanna have to think twice before i come to this site next time, because as was said in the interview they are monitoring ppl who goto certain web sites.and who knows this site might be on there list.and the shitty thing is, is that when they goto the ISp asking for the info they have made it against the law for that ISP to inform the owner of the web site.so like i said any site could be on there list and just cause ive visted that site they could be monitoring me.and i just dont like that thought.and thats why i asked the question that i did.i mean ive heard many a times of senior members telling newbies to get progs so they cant be tracked.and personally im more afraid of the government then some script kiddie.so maybe its just me but i think this issue should be taken very seriously.ok, ill shut up now.take it easy.

try freenet, it's slow as hell but totaly safe !!

All the traffic is encrypted and only decrypted on your local machine..

Legal issues

the_JinX : I have just checked their site and noticed this

Quote:

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The best way is to use a reference from a "trusted friend". However if you don't
have any friends, here are some initial seeds which might help you as well.
Remember this file is publically editable, so the NSA has probably replaced all
the references to point to their decoy computers. Feel free to add your own
references if you plan on running a full-time node.

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If the file is publicly editable and could have been messed with, how can you get a starting point (of nodes that is). Although it does suggest getting them from firends, most of my firends seem to get out a bit more than me rather than spending their time messing about with computers :)

Just curious

I got a refference from a friend running a node on a 100Mbit SDSL line..
I started out using only him as a refference. once on freenet the system is self learning..

Quote:

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In theory, you should only have to have one good reference in your seed file, and never have to add more references by hand. Your node is supposed to figure out how the network is working over time.

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Any freenet user can export his node seed, and you can then import that seed..

Quote:

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If you are on Linux, do start-freenet.sh --export <filename> If you are on Windows choose "export" from your system tray menu or start "fserve.exe" with "--export <filename>"

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http://freenetproject.org/cgi-bin/tw.../Documentation


As for the publicly editable file, that is true, but I have tried the file and all seem to be OK..
It is editable in a WIKI way..
http://tikiwiki.sourceforge.net/

Thanks for the info, I will go check it out, definately sounds like an interesting idea, freedom of speach and all that, cool!

I see that "Trust _Not_123" is not from America.......so i can see why his oppinion towards this topic is nonchalant and does not realize the implications of what can happen if an innocent remark or comment is taken seriously by someone.......for instance , the CIA runs a computer that scans the phone lines here and scans for keywords.
Say for instance that you said to one of your friends , in a harmless conversation, " (I dont like this president, someone should assasinate him) ".
That is enough evidence to start an investigation on you...tap your phone lines, your computer, anything they deem necessary.
It also scans for two or more keywords in a conversation, such as anything to do with Govt, bomb, gun, etc. Before you know it you are the center of a conspiricy investigation just for voiceing your opinion, which here in America goes with the freedom of speech clause in our constitution.
Every day our right to privacy and our freedoms are comming under attack by people that use the excuse that its in our best interest or for public safety, now some people may call it paranoia, but these are are rights, guaranteed by our constitution that are slowly being taken away( for our own good of course that someone has decided for us) and we as citizens should have a say in how these laws are enacted and enforced.
What some dont realize is how far these laws can be taken.......say for instance you have downloaded MP3's from the net and keep them on your hard drive. After 30 days you are in violation of copywrite laws........now think what would happen if the record companies were supplied with your IP address and your name, etc.
Now they look in your computer and take it as evidence and think....every MP# downloaded can be an individual charge or violation....just think of some people with a couple hundred files, thats a couple hundred individual counts against you.
The laws are enacted to thwart criminal activity, terrorist activity, but few realize how far law enforcement agencys can stretch the boundries of the law in thier so called " duties" and has anyone even though of the users of this site being under scrutiny? Just the word "hacking" used in the sight description is enough for it to be monitered for " illegal activity" or anything that they deem illegal.

The only way to get around the Patriot Act:

Leave the country!
I plan on doing this as soon as I have the resources!
I'd rather not live in a country where my freedoms are at risk, not by terrorism, but by the gov't... In the past few years I have lost much respect for my country...

Btw- almost 60% of the Patriot act expires in 2005 :-)