Slashdot Mirror
More Jail Time For Computer Crime Starting Next Month
An anonymous reader writes "Washingtonpost.com is running a detailed story about how new changes to the sentencing guidelines will increase jail time for most computer crime cases, starting November 1. When will the feds learn that raising penalties isn't going to deter this type of crime? The piece ends with a quote from uberhacker Kevin Mitnick saying just that."
It's about appeasing the masses. "Look", say the politicians, "We're tough on computer crime!" This will keep most people off the law makers backs.
Currently, you can get more time for hacking your cablemodem than manslaughter. What's the point anymore?
To any lawmakers out there who might read this - We Get It Already. Lay Off.
Weaselmancer
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Spammers already do all kinds of computer crimes (hijacking computers, etc.), and get no punishment, even after being reported. Sorry, but %100 more of zero is still zero.
DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE
okWell, as has been pointed out by Dilbert author Scott Adams (among others), if you're in jail then you're not out committing the crime. Putting criminals in jail certainly does deter crime during the duration of their sentence.
Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way...
This is why I don't like a lot of Slashdot readers. What options are you giving politicians in order to deter computer crimes? You guys say higher penalties don't deter crime; while that may be true, Slashdot has to be one of the biggest proponents of anonymous computing around. So if you don't want criminals to be named and you don't want them to be sentenced, what do you want to have happen to them? Is computer crime not really a crime?
...or "rehabilitate" anybody. The intent is to control a kind of power that is greatly feared.
Here's an analogy, which I'm sure has flaws but here goes anyway.
This is like burning witches at the stake. Witches were thought to have control over nature and man via black magic, special knowledge of the occult, etc. We've all heard the saying that advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic to those who don't understand it.
When I hear things like the giant brou-hahas made over websites using "cookies" (gasp!), I realize how mysterious computers must seem to ordinary non-tech people. When bad things (virii, DDOS attacks) start happening to computers and web sites, it must be especially scary to these folks because they didn't really understand what was going on in the first place, and now it's all gone to crap for no easily explainable reason.
All of this fear and ignorance eventually bubbles over into rage, and an urge to lash out towards those perceived to be responsible.
Yes, I realize that a cracker is not a perfect analogy to a witch because the cracker is actually performing malicious actions. But there seem to be many examples of white-hats getting snagged in this over-zealous dragnet (the Adrian Lamo case for instance).
The extent to which The Gubment has started prosecuting these crimes smacks of fear and ignorance, just like the Red Scare, and the original witch hunts. The idea that Kevin Mitnick could actually call in a nuke strike from a payphone... idiots!
"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face, it's just a goddamned piece of paper!" - George W. Bush Nov. 2005
Its politically beneficial for politicians to appear tough on crime. This move does get the political points but it leaves a long term mess for a prison system already over burdened by mandatory minimum sentences and it makes judges into clerks, rather than intelligent wielders of the law.
Look at California; direct democracy there lets the voters feel good for one election and saddles the politicians(managers, lets remember) with situations that just can't be made to work - you *must* provide more services, but not raise taxes.
Disaster ensues when you decouple responsbility and authority to discharge the duties. Judges are being hamstrung, reform has become impossible for nonviolent offenders in many areas, and it is only going to get worse.
I'll tell a personal story about what a joke mandatory minimum sentences are.
I have a friend who has a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart mounted in a little wooden box. He operates on one lung, shrapnel from the booby trap he set off while on patrol in the Mekong delta still comes to the surface in his back, but he kept his M60 lit up covering the LZ while the rest of the platoon retreated to the choppers.
He was involved in agricultural research and he ran a computer shop. One of his computer shop customers laid hands on his ag business information, ordered methamphetamine precursors, and then implicated my war hero friend to cover himself when he got busted.
Because of the manner in which the prosecutor handled the case the judge had to sentence this guy for something. He said he wanted to have him do forty hours of public service to remind him to keep his business records locked. He served six years in a federal camp.
I am very easy to get along with, but I don't have time to waste being nice to people who are being stupid. -Theo
Higher sentences for hackers while Ken Lay et al are still sitting in their multimillion dollar mansions? Does anybody out there sense severe, disgusting irony?
"No beer until you finish your tequila!" -Leela's Dad
There are several factors in deterrence. Two are perceived sentence, and perceived chance of getting caught.
After a point, perceived sentence stops having a significant deterrent effect. Death penalty generally has no statistically measurable effect beyond a life sentence. Similarly for, say, 10 years vs. 5 years. 5 years vs. $200 fine, I haven't seen studies, but I would imagine that yes-- if the penalty for speeding were 5 years, a lot fewer people would speed.
Perceived chance of getting caught can also make a huge swing. If you've hit the point where increasing the sentence really doesn't do much-- and it doesn't take long to hit that point-- this can be much more effective. If you know there's a 100% chance of getting caught, obviously you won't commit a crime with a significant penalty. If you know most people get caught, you'll look into other types of crime.
Given that penalties for most serious computer offenses are already extremely high, perhaps they should focus on catching and prosecuting people for reasonable sentences, rather than hitting the occasional jackpot and throwing the guy in jail for life.
Shit, if we kept on that trend, we might one day actually consider rehabilitation. Imagine, a prison doesn't guarantee a high recidivism rate!
If I lost a few years of my young adult life for writing a linux DVD player, I don't think the people that put me there would be around long after I got out.
It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
Those figures change dramatically when you consider per capita GNP. In reality the US per capita aid level is one of the cheapest donor levels of any industrialized nation.
Foreign AID as percentage of GDP
Per capita GDP
Lets put it this way, the average dane spends almost 8 times the amount of money in real dollars average american does.
No one hates the US because they are sucessful. I don't hate most european countries that have similar per capita GDPs. People hate the US because they are arrogant and have a horrible record for supporting and aiding vicious reigmes. (Pol Pot, Sadam Hussein, bin Laden, Taliban,El Salvador, etc)
Let me know about a 3rd world country the US rebuilt that they didnt blow to shit first.
Whoever convinced americans that they lived on the best country on earth really pulled the wool over their eyes as to what a good country can be.
If you ever get a chance or are actually interested in what the US stands for pull their voting record from the UN and look how many abstentions and votes against UN resolutions against colonization and terrorism the US has cast.
How much are we willing to befoul the constitution to deter crime? Jail time for a speeding ticket would deter speeding even more, but does the penalty fit the damage done? Do we really want a society where everyone falls in line based on fear? Like it or not, the constitution gives us the right to a reasonable punishment for a crime. Jail time is being thrown around far too casually by legislators these days. A suspension of our most basic right, freedom, is something to take very seriously.