Forwarded from: Robert G. Ferrell <rferrellat_private> > Sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard Coble, R-N.C., > the measure would permit copyright holders to perform nearly unchecked > electronic hacking if they have a "reasonable basis" to believe that > piracy is taking place. Berman and Coble plan to introduce the 10-page > bill this week. It's difficult to find adequate words for expressing what a deeply offensive, poorly thought-out, and just plain bad idea this is. The first time one of these "copyright holders" tries to hack a network frequented by any of a fairly significant number of what have come to be known as "black hats," they would be doomed. Can you say massive denial of service? Can you imagine being hit by a dozen 0-days at 3:45 AM? I'm not talking Web page defacements here, either--I'm talking about serious, specifically targeted mayhem. I don't think any of the clueless individuals who've pushed for or passed this piece of excrement masquerading as legislation have the slightest idea what sort of resistance the underground community is capable of generating, especially if galvanized by such a patently outrageous abuse of basic online civil liberties. "Raids" have always been the exclusive purview of duly accredited law enforcement agencies, and as such have (theoretically) been closely controlled and regulated by the judiciary. This measure puts what amounts to raw, unmonitored law enforcement powers in the hands of a brutally self-serving industry, with no regards whatever to the rights of the individuals involved. It is quite simply state-supported vigilantism, and about as unconstitutional as you can get. For the sake of both sides in this issue, I wish this bill a speedy relegation to to the bottom of the compost heap, where it most assuredly belongs. Robert G. Ferrell rferrellat_private - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Jul 25 2002 - 06:26:10 PDT