September 25, 2001
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Serious, Real, and You Need To Know About It
Remember, once upon a time we had civil rights? Well, check this out:
http://securityfocus.org/news/257
Hackers face life imprisonment under ‘Anti-Terrorism’ Act
Justice Department proposal classifies most computer crimes as acts of terrorism.
By Kevin Poulsen
Sep 23 2001 11:00PM PT
Hackers, virus-writers and web site defacers would face life imprisonment without the possibility of parole under legislation proposed by the Bush Administration that would classify most computer crimes as acts of terrorism.
The Justice Department is urging Congress to quickly approve its Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), a twenty-five page proposal that would expand the government’s legal powers to conduct electronic surveillance, access business records, and detain suspected terrorists.
[...]
As a “Federal terrorism offense,” the five year statute of limitations for hacking would be abolished retroactively — allowing computer crimes committed decades ago to be prosecuted today — and the maximum prison term for a single conviction would be upped to life imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal justice system
Those convicted of providing “advice or assistance” to cyber crooks, or harboring or concealing a computer intruder, would face the same legal repercussions as an intruder. Computer intrusion would also become a predicate offense for the RICO statutes.
DNA samples would be collected from hackers upon conviction, and retroactively from those currently in custody or under federal supervision. The samples would go into the federal database that currently catalogs murderers and kidnappers.
Comments (7)
Sadly, I think our civil liberties will be the first thing to go during these weird times.
I completely agree with the proposal. It makes obvious sense to me.
The Duchess
XD
Hey, know how there’s a fire drill at school? Now they’ve added terrorist attacks and plane crashes too!!!!! XD
Seriously, stupid. Here’s what it says to do when a plane crashes into your school:
1.) Duck under your desk.
2.) Be away from all windows and doors
3.) In a calm mannerly fashion walk out to designated areas in a buddy buddy system.
XD
Donnelly: *There’s no other end* to this legislation. It remains in effect *forever,* or until the courts rule on it.
Do you really think that ‘offering advice or assistance’ to a criminal in the act of defacing a web site is an act worth life in federal prison without the possibility of parole? Maybe aiding terrorist acts such as releasing sarin gas or something would be worth that, but defacing a web site?
I agree with the Duchess. While it may seem alarming to us computer folks in the wake of the Kevin imprisonment and the Janet Reno vendetta against “hackers” in Florida, I think this legislation will be met with temperament.
After all, computer viruses are incredibly damaging to worldwide commerce. Hopefully, this extreme punishment will be a deterrant for these little assholes who get their kicks off hurting others. Maybe they can challenge their talents into a way that actually benefits society.
Oh yeah, I meant to add that I doubt hacking into a website is going to warrant a life imprisonment. I mean, come on…
We’ve got a LOT of laws on the books, and unless there’s been some SERIOUS money lost, any slick lawyer can beat this down to 5 to 10.
After all, we have the “good” hackers *grinning again* (actually har-harring): http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170588.html
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