Reknamorken wrote:
] w1ld wrote:
] ] ] "
] ] ] WASHINGTON--A last-minute addition to a proposal for a
] ] ] Department of Homeland Security bill would punish
] ] ] malicious computer hackers with life in prison.
] ] ]
] ] ] The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday evening
] ] ] voted 299 to 121 to approve the bill, which would reshape
] ] ] large portions of the federal bureaucracy into new a
] ] ] department combining parts of 22 existing federal
] ] ] agencies, including the Secret Service, the Coast Guard,
] ] ] and the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center."
] ]
] ]
] ] This better not even make it to a vote.
]
] The U.S. Congress is clearly made up of ignorant luddites.

Hrm... I'm not too worried about this one. Its mostly that they don't have to talk to a court when they are dealing with a situation where there is an immediate risk of death or serious injury. I'd prefer that they focused on using digital signature capabilities to get "instant warrants," but serious battles in this space are hard to fight in this day and age.

Whats important is that we document real abuses of these new powers. When a serious case of actual abuse comes to light they will loose the leeway they are getting, as they did in the 70s. However, as long as they appear to be acting responsibly they can keep racking up small powers.

There WILL be a backlash against all this stuff, but it will only come when this stuff walks right to edge of seriously, permanently breaking things. The backlash will be too restrictive, and the cycle will repeat, until someone gets the clue that laws should not be passed based on reactionary response to stimuli, but rather based on thoughful foresight.

One other note. There is a question about the standard of knowledge required to determine that life risk is eminent. If the standard is that the police must have reason to suspect that the event will happen immediately, then this is fine. (Put yourself in the shoes of a cop who is in the position to stop an eminent terrorist attack if he can only run TCPdump on the LAN. (I know this sounds stupid, and it is, but thats what this law is about.) Now imagine being told that there is all this paper work that you have to do first and its going to take about 72 hours.

Now, if the standard is that there MIGHT be an eminent risk but the police really don't KNOW when its going to happen (take the recent sniper investigation) then this is a loophole big enough to drive a transport truck through. However if that IS the standard, then it is likely to be tossed by the courts for obvious reasons.

RE: Proposed bill could jail hackers for life - Tech News - CNET.com