Wednesday, 01 March 2000
.....
As I predicted on Feb 15, during the DoS attacks, we can now see the beginnings of a movement to alter the civil rights of every American citizen justified by the "hacker menace" -- a menace that has, so far, only managed to inconvenience the flood of Ecommerce dollars that enriches a very small segment of the American economy.
Are you willing to trade any of your rights away for the sake of buying shit online? I'm not.
When a hacker breaks into a system, the attack may travel a serpentine route utilizing multiple servers and carriers located in numerous states. But when police and federal agents attempt to trace the attack, they must apply for court orders in each jurisdiction -- creating a cumbersome process for investigators.
U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently introduced a bill that would allow investigators, among other things, to completely trace an online communication to its source without seeking permission from each state.
They don't even have the tactical sense to lie by pleading necessity; they just want to make their jobs easier. Abiding by citizen's civil rights always makes the law enforcement task more difficult. Tough! Conducting war according to the Geneva Convention makes it harder to kill people. Tough! I suppose we should all pity the poor police and federal agents whose job is a "cumbersome process" because of our civil rights.
See also Ecommerce and A Civil Liberties Crackdown <http://monkeyfist.com/articles/230>
This is Civil Rights and the "Hacker Menace" <http://monkeyfist.com/articles/280>