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Kutztown Students get Felony Charges
gone6713 writes "The 13 students from Pennsylvania who were accused of hacking the iBooks provided to them by the school (Slashdot had a previous story on them back in June) have offically been charged. It seems that the admin passwords were taped to the back of the iBooks!"
You know, I'm really not surprised to hear this. Despite all the precautions companies/ institutions take, it's typically human negligence or social engineering that leads to many compromises. While doing a spot check of security at work, I was surprised to find many employees had taped their passwords to the bottom of their keyboard or mouse.
Rule#1 make sure your users (employees, admins, etc) understand the importance of confidentiality.
"Simplify, simplify, simplify!" Thoreau
That's like saying do not push the big red button!
While the students should face some kind of consequences, in my opinion, the sheer stupidity puts this at the fault of those "victims" rather than the students.
The Computations of AdamR
http://www.adamreyher.com
See? This label of "hacker" to students who can read the back of a book is what is going to get them convicted of something. This is just all-around completely absurd. It's like if I were to always leave my keys in the ignition of my car: plain stupid.
Where I work, I seem to get three levels of password security. The worst are the ones who write their password on a post-it note and stick it on the monitor. The second level are the ones who write it in a notepad and put it in their desk drawer. The really smart ones write it in a notepad and put that in their bottom drawer. Sometimes I wonder why I bother.
I might not be a wit, but at least I am more than half way there.
If your going to charge the kids with felonies, then you should charge the IT administrators with aiding and abetting for leaving the password there.
Make sure to slap the hungry monkey's wrist that sees a stick next to an ant hill. Does wonders for intellectual development on a macro- and microscale.
Isn't it? To make example of certain people to buy the compliance of the rest of us (sheep)?
Especially in highschools. Or maybe just PA (I live 20 minutes from Kutztown). I remember a girl getting treated like a drug dealer because she a)bought aspirin to the school and didn't hand it over to the school nurse (so that she could subsequently go back to the school nurse when it's time to take them - talk about being treated like a 5 year old) and b)giving one to her friends that had a headache.
IIRC, she was kicked out of the district.
Variations of this heavy-handedness happens so often everywhere that I'm surprised it makes the news anymore. I think Columbine made it worse because now the administrators are going apeshit over every little thing - turning the schools into a sort of police state.
What would be news would be the punishment fitting the crime. But then the school administrators would have to admit that they are mostly at fault in this case (really: taping the passwords to the back of the computers?!)
Really, can't we get the media to stop using the work Hack in this way? Finding a password taped onto a notebook isn't hacking.
Sure, they may have used the computers in way which they shouldn't but, they didn't have to hack them.
I know, I know... the average Joe couldn't tell the difference between anything remotely technical but the media shouldn't be encourage it.
I think I'll go let Windows Hack into my neighbor's unsecured wireless access point.
I think I think, therefore I think I am.
First, I will agree that felony charges here is rather extreme, and someone isn't thinking. A few days of detention (for both the students and the security administrator) would be more appropriate.
But the fact that the passwords were on the back of the iBooks does not mean everyone was free to use them at will.
I can tape the key to my house on to the front door of my house, and while that is extreme stupidity on my part, that does not give you permission to unlock the door and come inside.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
From the article:
Now that's not the only thing that the kids are accused of doing, they also turned off the monitoring software (Apple Remote Desktop?) and even used it to monitor the admins. In addition, they're accused of using hacking tools to find the new admin password when it was changed from the password that was taped on the back of the machines.
Also, if you click on the little update link at the bottom of the story, you'll see that the kids were also found to be downloading pornography. Might sound innocent to some of you, but adults / the school can get in trouble for "allowing" them access to X-rated material.
Now, a third degree felony sounds harsh, but they still need some punishment. If they had stopped at using the password taped onto the back of the computers I'd feel sorry for them, but they were spying on admins and using other means to get the password once it was changed.
Advice for my fellow geeks: before seeking out that threesome you dream of, you might see what a TWOsome is like first.
I went to this high school and grew up in this town. Let me tell you this...The system administrators never had a firm grip on the students, I assure you...and they had been outdone several times before this. Suffice to say, the school tends to overreact about things that they don't understand...and Computers is one of those topics. I work in IT now and now that I understand security and such, I realized how much my high school sucked about security...they never really thought about it. Anyways...its kind of amusing to find my hometown on Slashdot...its little more then a farming town with a college in it. My graduating class was 140 people.
L8tr all.
Only the sensationalist news media has called the teens "hackers". Believe it or not, most judges understand the difference, and their defense lawyers will at least argue the point enough to inform any jury that gaining access is not the same as hacking.
Regardless
The law is not about hacking, it is about Unauthorized Entry. You don't have to pick the lock to be somewhere you shouldn't, and you don't have to cut through any fences to be prosecuted.
Rex is 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
in our increasingly vengence based culture. Some principal or admin got his feathers ruffled that student's would actually use the passwords taped to their computers and is now on a rampage to bring them into submission or destroy their lives. I'm surprised they haven't been labeled terrorists by now. This goes way beyond this school district... witness the proliferation of "no tolerance" policies. Everyone makes mistakes, especially teens... we as a society should be focused on correcting mistakes and giving people the chance to learn from them. It's only those who refuse to recognze they made a mistake or continually fail to learn from them that need to be dragged in front of the courts.
And "looking at what people give you" stop ?
I'd assume they'd WANT me to know the admin password if it was taped to the back of the laptop.
This story is short and doesn't give the fully story of what happened.
*At first* the passwords were on the laptops (not exactly tapped; they were apart of some tapped data. It didn't say "Password:" if that's what you're thinking).
After the admin changed them all, the kids then used a brute force cracker to break the passwords which they found on the local machines (password file?) and proceeded to install unauthorized software.
They were punished multiple times and they still continued to do it. Calling the cops on them was a last resort the schools were forced to do.
You can read more of the full story here: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/08/09/kutzto wn.hackers.ap/index.html
It's shit like this that makes me want to leave the country.
I sympathize to some extent actually. Read the district press release:
"Unfortunately, after repeated warnings and disciplinary actions, a few students continued to misuse the school-issued laptops to varying degrees. The disciplinary actions included detentions, in-school suspensions, loss of Internet access, and loss of computer privileges. After each disciplinary action, parents received either written notification or telephone calls. Some parents felt that the disciplinary actions were ridiculous and even expressed the feeling that their son/daughter should be able to do non-school activities and use the laptop without restrictions. Some students acknowledged that they used their school-issued laptop inappropriately at home rather than their home computer for fear their parent would catch them."
There is a simple way to fix this problem. If you don't want them to use the laptop at home, don't let them take it home.
My concern about the trend towards computerization in our schools is that students will not have the oportunity to opt-out of restrictions (say, by providing their own laptops). This is not that different from a world where everybody would be unable to opt-out of a trusted computing world, or even a Microsoft Windows world.
A second thought (IANAL) is that such heavy-handed punishment as a felony charge in this case might very well seem like cruel and unusual punishment and it might be possible to challenge the constitutionality of the law as applied to this case. Charging minors with felonies for using passwords taped to the back of the computers they were issued seems both cruel and unusual to me. However, where exactly one draws this line in this case might be fairly difficult to answer.
Finally, students have some privacy rights even regarding school lockers. It seems to me that constant monitoring might infringe upon those legitimate rights. IANAL, again though....
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Let's get that phone number, I've got time to remind them that they're responsible to me, the taxpayer.
Even more fun would be if the article had given a link to the school website. That would learn 'em.
Theodore Cole Jr.
Chief of Police
Kutztown Burough Police Department
45 Railroad Street
Kutztown, PA 19530
Phone: (610) 683-3545
Fax: (610) 683-9270
kutztownpd@kutztownpd.org
Mark C. Baldwin, Esquire
District Attorney
Berks County Services Center
633 Court Street, 5th Floor
Reading, PA 19601
Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
610.478.6000
610.478.6002
da@countyofberks.com
45 Railroad St.
Kutztown, PA 19530
(610) 683-3545
Borough of Kutztown:
45 Railroad St.
Kutztown, PA 19530
(610) 683-6131
fax (610) 683-6729
Kutztown Area School District: District Administration
50 Trexler Ave.
Kutztown, PA 19530
(610) 683-7361
fax (610) 683-7230
more addresses and phone numbers for the District
I find the quote "We are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom." at the bottom of the Borough's webpage inappropriate for this town.
Whoever taped those passwords to the back of the computers needs to be fired. Whoever gave that person a job needs to be fired. Whoever has the authority to demand that the people above must be fired immediately but hasn't needs to be fired.
But this isn't happening. Rather than start demanding even a fleeting glimpse of intelligence within the public schools the parents simply get together and whine that the people they voted for have their heads so far up their rectum that you can't distinguish a fart from a whistle don't engage in sphincter-yoga.
Yes, there is the possibility that these parents didn't vote this particular schoolboard (and mayor , who allowed this particular police chief and DA to make such stupid decisions), but I'll hedge my bets and say that either they voted for them or didn't vote at all.
Are they demanding the resignation of the board? No.
Are they demanding the resignation of the DA? No.
Are they even promising to vote for somebody else in the next election? No.
So if they don't care enough to actually DO something about the situation, why should anybody else?
If the g'vt kept the data on you that google does you'd better believe you'd be calling it "doing evil"
It was one thing to essentially commandeer borrowed government property. (It doesn't matter if they negligently made the key available for use or not.) They also went about expanding their control first by blocking the admin's ability to monitor then by breaking into the admin account again... it was not taped to the computer the second time.
Afterward, they went on to monitoring the admin.
This is their defiance of authority and that's the message here.
On one hand, I think it's "harsh" what is being done to the kids -- I really do. But there's a larger picture here that should be acknowledged.
How many times have you been completely and utterly insulted by children who know there's nothing you can do about it. That is, in essence, what has happened here. When it was realized that the kids were breakign rules, they were essentially given the chance to straighten up when they were discovered and their admin passwords changed. The kids responded by being even mroe defiant and even aggressive about it.
We have a cultural mess on our hands. I'm just sick enough of defiant children to endorse the reaction we are seeing here. You can't spank children any more. Somehow it became a crime. You can't even talk "mean" to them -- it's somehow psychological abuse as well. As a culture, we cannot control the children. And it's clear that most parents will not regulate their offspring as well... (at least without fear of criminal problems much of the time)
I have two sons of my own and at the moment, my biggest problem is getting them to tell the truth. I haven't seen evidence of anything worse... not yet anyway. Respect for authority is a critical lesson in life that needs to be learned. If we have to make 13 examples of these kids, then so be it. It could help in changing the path for millions of other kids out there... kids that will one day grow up and lead this world. And if you think I'm over-reacting myself, look around you at the many "adults" out there who are early evidence of the things to come... people who never actually grew up and took responsibility for themselves. Examples are not hard to find.
Respect, in general, should be restored as a key value in our culture and at the core of respect is fear of what might happen if you don't.
You have the implicit right not to have your travel patterns monitored when you rent a car, but a school has the right to watch what students do with PC's ???.
Then again it really shouldnt surprise me that incompetent people in the I.T. field wind up blaming everyone around them for their faults. In this case it seems they managed to get a sympathetic ear out of their local PD. Its sad that, you can have people harbor a child molestor and not be charged with so much as obstruction of justice, but here you have children being charged with unauthorized use of devices placed in their possesion.
IANAL but the fact that the schools handed the PC's to the students, said use them to do their work will probably knock down any charges concerning them. It will be really hard to prove unauthorized access when they were handed the quipment and given access to the network. Taping the password the back of the machine should also throw out any claims that the systems were meant to be secure.
This case shows what happens when legislators make law without understanding what they are trying to legislate or considering the consequences. If this application of the law is held valid it will allow any corporation, organization or group to take revenge on any employee or member that uses its computers and is disliked. To do so, all that would have to be done is change an employee manual or circulate a policy memo in a way that it would either not be read or misunderstood, and then call the police when someone keeps on doing what they had been doing.
Ok, so punish them, sure, but felonies? Do you also favor beheading as punishment for jaywalkers? Their punishment is so ridiculously disproportionate to the "crime" it's galling.
"They were punished multiple times and they still continued to do it."
So a rational adult would simply take the laptop away from them. Either play by the rules or take it away.
To me, this is the equivalent of sending your kid to reform school because he talked back one too many times. Its overreaction and really, its an admission of failure by the school authorities.
Everybody in Kutztown should be ashamed of themselves.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
No they don't. The locker is the explicit property of the school. The school reserves the right to open, search, change, or restrict use of lockers at any time for any reason or no reason. They can even extend such a policy, to a certain extent, to student-owned vehicles parked in the school parking lot if they have some kind of just cause (impressions of a threat to students or staff, visual drug paraphenalia, etc) to think that a crime is being committed or is eminent.
IANAL, but every case I have read indicates that the administration must have "Reasonable Suspicion" to search a locker. This is a substantially lower standard than the "Probable Cause" normally applicable to searches. "Reasonable Suspicion" also applies to searches of students persons and belongings at school.
In other words, the administration can search your locker if they have reason to believe that such a search may turn up evidence of violation of the policies of the school, or laws such as drug possession. However, to my knowledge, they can't search it because your name turned up on the list of students for random searches today. Again, IANAL, but I would be happy to provide case references.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Under most circumstances that is actually a very wise policy. Many products, MS Windows Terminal Services among others, do not allow the admin to access the user account without his password. That is you can get at the files but not actually log-in as that user to diagnose problems. Some other products require out-of warranty service depot excercise to reset their passwords. Good example would be some "security enabled" laptops. The policy of having MIS dept do all the passwords (while keeping records of them) prevents employees (specially when there is high turnover) from screwing up all of these things.
Of course that policy might not be applicable some places, depending on local conditions.
It says more about a school when it looks like thier entire site was made with geocities geobuilder and Front Page 97.
- "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
But of course that logical, sensible solution doesn't jive with today's vengeful, zero-tolerance, conform-or-face-punishment society.
This is the equivalent of writing in a library book, except that re-imaging the hard disk on a laptop is actually easier than removing writing from a library book.
Anyone recall the scene in "Ender's Game" where the kids are virtually encouraged to mess around with their computers, in part so that the school can keep an eye on who's got creativity and daring and who's just a boring by-the-rules follower?
We won't be raising the kind of smart kids we need to be defeating aliens and saving humanity with the Kutztown school district's attitude.
"How many times have you been completely and utterly insulted by children who know there's nothing you can do about it. "
I think you're presented a false set of choice here. The choice isn't "accept lack of respect" or "send them to jail"
Generally, if the administration is in a position where it feels that it can't control the children properly, it's the adults fault. Lets face it; Kutztown isn't exactly "The Blackboard Jungle". These are basically middle class kids who will do either the right thing or wrong thing depending on the situation. Honestly, if you taped the admin password to a laptop you loaned me, I might use it.
Ineffective leadership and ineffective parenting usually happens when parents/leaders lead by refusing to have small consequences and as a result are forced to have large consequences when things finally become unmanageable.
This is a perfect case. When it was discovered the kids had compromised the laptops as a result of the password written on top, the administrators might have (a) Punished the children in a small way... perhaps detention...perhaps removal from all extracuricular activities... parents should have been notified (b) the administration should have reimaged the laptops and changed all the passwords. (c) Warn the children that next time, they would have their laptops taken away and that their parents would be liable for the cost of reimaging all the laptops once again. Put all this in writing and have the parents of the children acknowledge this.
And here's really the key... you have to follow through on every "threat". That is, when it was discovered they'd hacked the laptops again, take their laptops away and send a bill for the cost of reimaging to the parents.
I'm telling you, these administrators almost sound like they heard the phrase "computer hacker" and it frightened them so much they felt they had to teach the kids a lesson.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Forgive me for a moment, this post may seem slightly off topic but I think that what we are seeing is the symptom of a larger problem and that is what I want to address in this post. So, flame away if you want.
Kids, by their very nature are curious and, a bit rebelious. That hasn't changed in generations, kids have always been tempted by things that they know they should not do and kids have always been known to defy authority. I know I did, and I'll bet you did too!
I was very fortunate to have had several teachers who were actually able to harness my curiosity and my desire to "push the boundaries." To this day, I think they were the best teachers I had.
I also had the other kind of teacher; I remember specifically one English teacher who told us to read a specfic chapter. I got in trouble for reading beyond the chapter! I loved reading and simply got caught up in the story. Why he got upset is still beyond me.
Many teachers no longer teach kids, they teach cirruclium. They expect kids to march in lock-step to their plans. Kids going though this feel like they are prisoners and that their teachers are little more than glorified babysitters! They get bored, they don't understand why they are being limited and, they naturally fight this by defying the silly rules established by the people in authority. In short, the kids will be kids (just like they always have been).
Yeah, the kids hacked the computers and used them for things that maybe they shouldn't have. I have to say that the administrators of the school should have expected this.
It seems to me there were probably a number of other things that could have been done - including a policy of "if you hack this, we will take it away from you and you will fail the class". The way that it has happend smells like the administration has chosen, intentionally, to make examples out of these kids. I suspect that this was done to send a message to future students "Don't mess with us" - but this kind of thing against kids seldom works and can easily backfire (especially if nothing comes of the charges).
I feel for the kids, I really do. Not because they hacked the computers but because the administration and staff of the school have obviously made some poor choices along the way. This problem is a symptom of something wrong much deeper in the system. The teachers should realize they are teaching kids who are naturally curious, naturally push the limits, and naturally defy authority. If these kids were challenged, rather than restricted, they would learn a hell of a lot more.
Teachers, please go back to teaching kids, not cirriculum!
Oh, how long can trusty Cadet Stimpy hold out? How can he possibly resist the diabolical urge to push the button that could erase his very existence? Will his tortured mind give in to its uncontrollable desires?
Can he resist the temptation to push the button that, even now, beckons him even closer? Will he succumb to the maddening urge to eradicate history? At the MERE...PUSH...of a SINGLE...BUTTON! The beeyootiful SHINY button! The jolly CANDY-LIKE button! Will he hold out, folks? CAN he hold out?
"I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years." -- Warren Zevon
Anonymous Coward, you are hereby requested to identify yourself.
You have been found guilty of swearing, which is a verifiable gateway activity to criminal activity, and a negative influence on children. Your sentence is 10 years in prison. Identify yourself, or have another 10 years attached to your sentence for evading authority.
Many products, MS Windows Terminal Services among others, do not allow the admin to access the user account without his password.
If software requires that the admin knows the user's password to do basic administration, then you need to consider alternative technologies.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
There is a simple way to fix this problem. If you don't want them to use the laptop at home, don't let them take it home.
Exactly.
"Listen up, kids. You will be given a laptop to use on school premises only. The laptops will be handed to you in Homeroom and must be turned in every day at the end of the last period of classes. If you go off campus for lunch, you must either turn your laptop in for safekeeping at the office or keep it securely locked away in your locker.
"Abuse of your laptop will be grounds for losing laptop privileges. You will then have to do your school work that requires use of your laptop in the computer lab up until the end of the year. Abuse of your laptop entails downloading porn, music, non-authorized software, or vandalizing your laptop or the laptops of others. Circumvention of the security systems used on campus (Dan's Guardian, Deep Freeze, etc.) will be grounds for losing laptop privileges.
"Due to security concerns, bringing your own laptop or handheld computer to school is expressly forbidden. Those violating these rules will have their laptop or handheld confiscated and their parents or guardians notified about how to pick up the confiscated property.
"If you break your laptop and it is determined the breakage is accidental or the result of mechanical breakdown or some other intrinsic failure, you will receive a working laptop in exchange for the disabled laptop. If the breakage is determined to be caused by negligence or vandalism, you will lose your laptop privileges.
"With privileges such as these come responsibilities. Don't come crying to us if you break the rules and find yourself without your school-issued laptop, because you knew the rules in the first place. To assure us that you do know the rules, you will be given a paper copy of the rules with a form to fill out. Those of you who need assistance with reading the rules or filling out the form will receive the assistance. Only when we are sure you completely understand these rules will we issue you your laptop."
There. problem solved. Next earth-shaking issue, please...
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
You want to wake up, son. Lets put this in context, shall we? We are talking about a felony, that is entering children into the criminal justice system because the school admins didn't have clue one about how to secure their own systems from... children. The mini emporers in academia need a taste of their own medicine. Honestly speaking, a previous poster pointed out that taping the password to the backs of the computers was tantamount to incitement and solicitation of a minor. I wouldn't just use it as a threat though, I'd go afer the little hitlers until every man jack of them had spent a few months trying out the local prison facilites. Such irresponsible and knee jerk reactionists should under no circumstances be educating children.
Don't get me wrong, I know some kids are wretched creatures that shouldn't be in general education, but in this case I think an example does need to be made. Of the so called teachers.
What he can't kill, he has sex on. Trent.
As a parent, what bothers me is that the administration apparently made no attempt to contact the parents. This past year, my oldest was part of group of 3rd graders who were acting up on the playground during recess. They were threated with suspension if their behavoirs did not imporve as a last resort. No time during the process of being called into the principle's office (3 or 4 times) were my wife and I contacted.
I thought teaching and parenting were a partnership? Screw that. Teachers are underpaid, administrators are over paid. And parents are treated as children. That is the message sent out and the kids see this.
Had this been my kid and the school contacted me after the first inccident, the problem would have been solved to the benefit of child and the school district.
with kids.
You will lose. Any sane parent knows this. The educators, with their specialized training totally should know this. As a father I know this.
The policy should reflect the reality of computing today; namely, that any access control methods can and will be circumvented by those willing to do so. Period, end of story. There is very little the school could do to prevent this kind of thing, so why bother?
Either the kids play ball, or they don't get their own computer. Have a lab room setup for those not willing to agree to the terms of use and those that think they are willing, but end up on the wrong side of the rules.
Charging these kids with a felony crime is just wrong. It's going to affect their future far more than it helps the school keep control. I've a feeling this school is one of these zero tolerance, power tripping schools that does more actual harm than good.
So, they could have just taken the computers, booted the kids, put them on an alternative learning track, etc.... But, continuing to escalate the issue the way they did invited trouble, was counter productive, and could easily be considered rather draconian. --> "Lets make examples of a few of them to keep the others in line". Yeah, like I want my teen going to a school like that.
In the schools defense, the law has taken away a lot of their power these days. The school staff is sharply limited in what they can actually do without going to the courts. (Which makes a keen understanding of the whole power struggle thing all the more important!) When I went to HS, in the 80's, principles could still actually make kids *do* things. Breaking up fights, for example, often meant the principle stepping in there, grabbing some kids, and sorting things out. He was never in the office, walked around the school and kept order.
Things are far different today where even touching kids can get educators in trouble.
There is a fine line being crossed with the whole kids rights thing. In terms of things like expression, we should be yielding to the kids. However, in terms of behavior, we should let the schools do a bit more than they currently are, if we are to avoid the courts for teen struggles.
Also, where the fuck are the parents in this whole thing? If this were my kid, I would quite honestly start working that school and legal system over until the problem was corrected. I'm all for kids towing the line, but it's a two way street. If the school creates an environment for failure, (which they clearly have), the punishment for that failure needs to serve some greater end. (Which it clearly doesn't.)
This whole mess is a crock. Anyone, who has parented teens, who possesses just a bit of common sense would have been able to defuse this issue and move on. My gut says this whole small town is fucked up.
Blogging because I can...
Often the software used to change a password can spot a weak one (sequential numbers/letters, dictionary words, etc.) and prevent a user from setting it. With decent software and configuration, it isn't necessary to have a password "approved" by an actual person.
Not the mention, the more inconvenient it is for a user to change his/her password, the less likely it is that s/he will do it.
Sent from my computer.
Now GET OFF MY LAWN!
I agree that PC's don't need to be in every classroom. There are some classes where they are needed though, for example in a business department to teach typing and the basics of word processing and spreadsheets. They can also be useful in other classes from Civics to Auto Shop to illustrate concepts and demonstrate how to find resources on the internet. But in those cases I believe it is more useful to have one computer with an LCD projector which would simply supplement the blackboard.
I don't see any sense in limiting children to Microsoft products though which is what most school boards are doing. KDE/Gnome and Open Office contain 95% of the same functionality as MS Office but with easier administration and better security. Eliminating the license fees for MS Windows, MS Office, Windows Server, Visual Studio, MS Backoffice, and all the client access licenses to connect to MS server products would allow the district to purchase many more bare-metal commodity PC's within the same capital budget.
And for teaching programming before college, Linux is a dream. There are a plethora of programming tools and compilers for every language under the sun, and most of them are free. Linux has taken the server market by storm and is also becoming the standard for small devices. School administrators should look 5-10 years down the road at when these kids will be college graduates and prepare them now for the Open Source future they will be living and working in.
You could teach photography with a Photoshop component. You could teach a film class and use digital video. You could teach music and at the end of the term have the students compose a work and play it on a synthesizer. Or how about shop class ? They could use a CAD program and a computer controlled lathe. These sorts of things work best when they are used at the end of the term. As a reward for the students' hard work learning the foundations of their subject, they get to use some modern tools that people actually use today. It can be a good incentive to learn.
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
GPG 0x1B479C78
If software requires that the admin knows the user's password to do basic administration, then you need to consider alternative technologies.
I can see both sides of this issue.
The reason Windows doesn't allow superusers to su to other accounts without their password is for accountability. It's a lot harder to notice a rogue admin reading and modifying files of execs when he/she can do it without knowing their password.
There are ways around the restriction in terms of necessary administration. If someone is fired or leaves the company, an administrator can transfer ownership of their files to another user, giving them access. If an admin really needs to log in as someone else without their consent (maybe for legal investigative reasons?) they can change the password on the user's account.
Now, where this breaks down is something like Exchange. My admin account at work is a member of the Exchange administrators' group, meaning I can read anyone's email in the company without knowing their password. That's frequently the information that should be the *hardest* to get to.
OTOH, logically I believe that *ix has it right when it lets the superuser do *anything*. Dear Microsoft: I'm not really an administrator if there are processes I can't kill, and files I can't delete.
The ownership stuff I mention above is an illusion anyway, since as an administrator I could install a keylogger on someone's workstation to get their password.
Anyway, that was kind of a ramble, but my point is that it's a philosophical difference. Windows is designed in most ways to be Nerfed so that you don't shoot your eye out, and most of your admins don't know how to access restricted information without leaving a trail.
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
Rather than charging students with crimes for this type of activity, I'd be for the immediate termination of anyone on the high-school's "I.T. staff" who actually thought this was a good or even "workable" policy!
If there really is a "hidden agenda" of fishing for "troublemakers", that's a very poor way to accomplish anything. I mean, hey, why not issue knives to every incoming student too and just sit back and wait to see who starts stabbing people?
And anyway, historically speaking, the tinkerers/experimenters of the world are the ones who accomplished and contributed the most to society as a whole. "Respect for authority" be dammed.... Computers are all about exploring and experimentation. If you can't even create a "virtual sandbox" of sorts out of the system configuration you're issuing your students, so they have "boundaries" to what they can do on said machines, that just illustrates that the students are smarter than the faculty. The tools *are* and *have been* available to restrict usage of computers to only specific applications. If you opt not to use them, then I think you're making a de-facto vote for allowing students to do as they will with the laptops.
You know which ones are most likely to go off and install programs like iChat AV or take full advantage of "remote control" software they figure out how to use? That's right -- the smartest ones and the ones who actually *enjoy* using a computer! But no, we have to punish them and encourage the mediocrity instead. Teach students that computers are ONLY there for specific tasks we set up for them in advance. Don't "have fun" with it or you're a "hacker". Drum all the curiousity out of them. It's EVIL!
A laptop isn't a device meant to be secured. A basic tenet of computer security is that anyone with physical access to the hardware effectively has admin access. What if the students simply wiped the drive or put a different one in? Would that be "hacking" deserving of a felony charge too? It seems like these children were baited to have their lives ruined. How did the massive amounts of taxpayer dollars help them?
This letter was sent to the school administration by a student's mother prior to any charges being filed. The student is of course one of the 13 charged. If my memory of High School is even remotely accurate, this is exactly how my school administrators would have handled things (in absolutely the wrong manner) - however, my school administrators as quirky as they were, never would have filed criminal charges without even trying to get the parents involved.
May 3, 2005
I am writing this letter in response to recent events at the Kutztown
High School concerning the manner in which my son was questioned about
his use of the school laptop computer. My son was removed from an important chemistry review class and taken to an office where he was interrogated for more than thirty minutes by the school principle, assistant principle and laptop program director. During this questioning my son was accused of being involved in criminal activities and told that the Kutztown School District intended to press misdemeanor and/or felony charges against him in court. He was told that if he gave up the names of other students that they (meaning the school employees) would take that information into consideration when they filed the charges. I do not send my son to school to be intimidated, threatened, cajoled or bribed by school administrators under any circumstances. My son was told that he had destroyed school property and was in the same league as the kid who spray paints the exterior of the school buildings. I never heard such total rubbish. How dare any of you equate the abilities of my son with a group of mindless misfits who have nothing better to do than make graffiti? At the time of this meeting on May 2, 2005, none of the accusations being made against my son had any actual evidence to back them up because his laptop had not yet been checked for any current violations. My son was put in that intensely disturbing situation because some other students, who were probably terrified of what would happen to them, said my son had done something wrong.
I, personally, do not know exactly what my son does or does not do on his school computer, but what I do know is that at no time in the past four months was I ever contacted, by phone or by letter, about any problems that would justify the way school officials behaved towards my son during that meeting. If, at any time, I had been contacted by the school concerning inappropriate behavior by my son I would have put a stop to it immediately. Apparently, the administrators at the Kutztown High School seem to adhere to a policy that undermines parental authority. The only evidence I was ever privy to was a paper that was mailed to my home saying he had been given a one hour detention for the installation of something called Acquisition. A one hour detention would not indicate to any parent that there was a serious problem. The irony in that was that his acquisition wound up putting him through an inquisition.
I no longer trust the Kutztown High School administration to behave in a way that is professionally reliable or in the best interests of my child. Therefore I am stating, unequivocally, that there are to be no more meetings of any kind for any reason between my son and any Kutztown High administrator without my consent and/or physical presence at the meeting. If there is any problem at all with my sons conduct while at school I am to be notified immediately before any other action is taken.
I will no longer honor the contract that was signed concerning the use of the school lap top last September. Had I any indication at that time how inefficiently the program would be administered, I would never have agreed to it in the first place. I will not sign any other contract for the use of school computers unless there is an amendment clearly stating that any violations concerning the use of the equipment will be dealt with by the district a
This reminds me of a time in High School when I was called to the office and told my network folder had been cleared and my login disabled for downloading MP3s. What were these MP3's that I downloaded? JFK's speeches for a final project in one of my classes.
I'd spend some time looking it over, making sure the anti-virus etc was set up correctly and if I found a password taped to the bottom, you can bet I'd try it to see what happened. I cannot fault a child for anything I would do myself. However once I identified what that password was associated with, you can bet I'd be on the phone and raise holy hell with the asshat that was incompetent enough not to memorize the admin password and taped it to each computer.
The only thing it achieves is to make pointy-haired cretin bosses warm and fuzzy and the admin's life miserable. Keyloggers, fancy stealth rootkits etc etc. If a competent admin goes "rouge" watch out. Windows is a system by idiots for idiots and I cringe everytime I have to use the thing in serious environments, alas, I have a little choice. Bill has us all cornered with the deep penetration of the business world combined with unimaginable, self-reinforcing inertia. That and the fact that most users/developers for Windows are idiots to begin with.
I get tired of this /. wanna-be hacker mentality that seems to be if you CAN do something you SHOULD be allowed to, and face no repercussions for it.
I mean look, if someone has physical access to a machine, they can get root, period. Any barriers you put in the way are only superficial and will only slow them down, if anything. We always operate under that assumption at work. We don't try and pretend we have an unhackable system because there's no such then when someone is physically at the computer. Rather we put in place as good a system as possible, and if someone insists on breaking it we take action which can range from having the department head talking to the to calling the police.
So it sounds like these kids were given plenty of chances, but they decided that there was just no real consequences so they'd just keep doing it. That's a very similar mindset to vandals that go around bashing in car windows and so on.
Now if they actually try and lock these kids up till they are 21 or something else, then yes I'll call it an overreation. However I don't think facing criminal charges is unreasonable, and if they get community service and probation, I think that's fine.
I won't give the kids crap for messing with the laptops initally, when the password was on the laptop, I mean even though it's technicly not allowed, it's just too tempting. If I leave my front door hanging open, it's still tresspassing to come inside, but I really can't blame a curious kid that does that.
However when the passwords were changed and the kids not only broke in, but disabled the school's administrative access, well that's another thing entirely. Now we are talking about kids who disable the security system on my windows, come in, and try to mess with my door lock so I can't get in. That's serious.
I personally don't think taking away the laptops is a severe enough solution. I think it would just reenforce the idea that it's ok to cause trouble on comptuers, since nothing will ever really happen to you.
We encounter those kind of people on campus peridocly, they think they can just break in to other people's systems and it's ok, because it's just computers and no real consequences will result. We had one kid that took out the main library's network several times, trying to get Cain and Able to work right. He was convicted of a crime, by the way. Right now we have someone who's pretty clearly on campus, but smart enough to route through a system outside that is methodicly trying to break in to UNIX systems all over campus, with some success. It's likely to be a rather large sentence when they catch this guy, as it has caused a lot of problems and lots time and the guy just won't quit.
I think tech savvy kinds need to learn that it's not ok to just disregard people's rights to their computers. It's not ok to break in to something just because you have the technical ability. And it's not a case of "Don't do this or we'll make it harder for you by taking away your access" it's "Don't do this because it is wrong, and there are real consequences".
Prosecution in this case (where the passwords were taped to the back of the iBooks) is so clearly wrongful, that no reasonable person could deny that the prosecution of the defendants violates their rights under the First, Fourth and Fifth Ammendments.
Cthulhu for President! Why settle for the lesser evil?
I firmly believe criminals must face justice but I also believe the punishment should fit the crime (and "crime" doesn't really fit in this case). Felonies used to be for the worst crimes... murder, rape, or gunpoint robberies. Now they are about some small town school principal trying to prove that he is still in control.
Disclaimer: I don't know for a fact it's the principal of this school driving this stuff. You get the point, though.
People in power should be given authority because they have already earned the respect of those who they will have authority over. People in power also must continue behave in a manner that remains worthy of respect under scrutiny.
In the case of your police example, if a police department consistently and fairly enforces the law, responds rationally and appropriately to threats, and quickly weeds out any corruption in its ranks, then, when a police officer shows up at my door and informs me that it is an emergency and I must evacuate I will trust and quickly comply with this command.
On the other hand, if a police department is seen as corrupt, unfair, inefficient, or irrational in its response to threats then, when a police officer shows up at my door I will have grounds to be suspicious, ask questions, and possibly not comply with what I am asked to do.
All respect is earned and can be lost.
Looking back on it now, I can see that I deserved *something* for disobeying a direct order... detention perhaps, or losing computer privileges for a week...
No. You deserved no punishment whatsoever for turning up the brightness on a monitor that had the brightness all the way down. Making that sort of adjustment is common sense.
In fact, anyone who would suggest that displaying common sense is a crime, or that military-type jargon such as "disobeying a direct order" is something that we should be using to educate school children, is not thinking correctly.
In fact, the whole idea that public schools should be run like a semi boot-camp type environment, with "direct orders" and "zero tolerance policies" and a complete and utter disdain for individual creative thinking, is just plain wrong.
I was in the military for many years, and I know exactly what military-style training can and can't achieve. It's excellent for turning out people who will do things EXACTLY as ordered, and PRECISELY according to a pre-determined plan. It's really not that great at teaching creative thinking, or instilling a system of personal ethics that aren't imposed by an outside authority. It's great for cranking out infantrymen, and pretty darn awfull for instilling any sort of American democratic and egalitarian ideals.
Heck, if the teacher in charge of that class had bothered to do her jo, and pre-check each machine and each monitor before class to ensure that the basic settings were correct, then the problem wouldn't have arisen in the first place. Oh, but wait, that would require people in positions of petty authority to take RESPONSIBILITY for their own actions.... definatelly a part of the military tradition that school authorities would want to run from like the plague ;) I mean, making KIDS be responsible for their actions is cool, but actually holding teachers and administrators to the same standard? Heh.. it'll never happen.
I've found it possible to talk to those who became conservative by the first two paths, though we have some fundamental differences.
Sadly, Rush and O'Reilly appeal to the last of these groups. And the behavior of the school authorities in this case seem to fit that profile: fearful, arbitrary, disproportionate. Why are they coming down like a ton of bricks on these kids? Because they can, and because administering punishment turns them on.
Get your teeth into a small slice: the cake of liberty