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Open WAP = Probable Cause?

RockoTDF writes "A court in texas has ruled that an open WAP is not a sufficient defense against child pornography charges, a ruling which could carry over to p2p users. In addition, it appears that an open WAP could be seen as probable cause by law enforcement."

466 comments

  1. probably? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Open WAP = Probably Cause?

    CmdrTaco = Editor?

    1. Re:probably? by SentauR · · Score: 1

      This is going to be the new plea in the court system. "How do you plead? Guilty, Not Guilty or OPEN WAP."

    2. Re:probably? by carrier+lost · · Score: 1

      Cmdr Taco == Editor

    3. Re:probably? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First read the part of the Constituion this comes from:

      The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

      Now what are the police trying to find? They are looking for evidence in relation to a crime. They have to have a reasonable basis for believing a crime has been committed (by who doesn't matter!) and that evidence of it will be found by searching the persons, places and things listed in the warrant. The defence argued it wasn't reasonable to think evidence would be found in/on the persons, places or things listed in the warrant. The court ruled it was.

      Keep in mind a crime might have nothing directly to do with you but searches could include you, your residence or posessions if it's reasonable to think evidence will be found. If during the search they find evidence of your own crimes it's admissable as it was discovered during the normal duties of police officers.

    4. Re:probably? by 0x1b · · Score: 1

      Air Conditioning = Open WAP = Probable Cause = Public Property and so it goes...

      didn't we just defeat that Evil Empire, damn.

  2. Accept Jury Duty by gleather · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just a reminder to ACCEPT jury duty if you get called. It is one of the best ways to directly affect how things work in the U.S.

    --
    Idiot.
    1. Re:Accept Jury Duty by iggymanz · · Score: 0, Troll

      accepting jury duty 99 times out of 100 will mean sitting in a trial about some punk who held up a liquor store, or some domestic dispute, or some DUI case......how exactly would this involuntary servitude have any bearing on affirming or defending our rights?

    2. Re:Accept Jury Duty by jimstapleton · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And that 1 time out of 100 where it's a tech case, you'll get booted because you have a clue about the subject matter.

      Remember, Justice isn't just blind, it's also retarded.

      --
      34486853790
      Connection too slow for X forwarding? Try "ssh -CX user@host"
    3. Re:Accept Jury Duty by LighterShadeOfBlack · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      accepting jury duty 99 times out of 100 will mean sitting in a trial about some punk who held up a liquor store, or some domestic dispute, or some DUI case......how exactly would this involuntary servitude have any bearing on affirming or defending our rights? You get to defend the basic American right to bear arms in the face of a liqour store attendant while demanding money.
      --
      Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
    4. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      remember jury nullification is illegal and helps the terrorists win!
      only commie pinko bastards would dare to think different than the judge and prosecuting attorney.

      GWB is the smartest man in the USA!

      WOO I love this ACID TRIP! WOOOO!

      (Because you have to be on drugs to believe all that!)

    5. Re:Accept Jury Duty by iggymanz · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      haha, that's a hoot. But us gun nuts say the liquor store attendant can pull the trigger on the twelve gauge with magnum goose load under the counter aimed at the punk's crotch too

    6. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Thunderstruck · · Score: 1

      Are you assuming that the Punk/Lover/Driver is guilty before you even hear the evidence? If you were the accused, and you believed you were innocent, would you want a jury to listen to you?

      how exactly would this involuntary servitude have any bearing on affirming or defending our rights?

      You have three rights here that you're protecting:

      1. The right to have a jury of ordinary people decide what the facts are when you're charged with a crime.
      2. The right to serve on a jury.
      3. The right not to be put in jail if there is reasonable doubt as to your guilt.

      Actually serving on a jury affirms and defends all of these.

      --
      Trying to use sarcasm in text-based forums does not work.
    7. Re:Accept Jury Duty by iggymanz · · Score: 2, Informative

      right on, it's more important to vote, to hire/fire local judges, and to get the right leader to appoint the right kind of supreme court justice (and last time I checked they weren't using juries). Vote in 2008, give the status quo a heave ho!

    8. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Every time I get called for Jury Duty, I go. And when they ask if anyone has a reason NOT to sit on the jury, I raise my hand. They ask me for my excuse, and I say ..

      "I have a brain and can think outside the parameters of instructions given by the judge. There is at least one side that doesn't want me on the jury, and perhaps even both sides. If you choose me to be on the jury, you'll find out what my wife already knows, I'm a pain in the arse."

      I haven't sat on a jury yet, as I get dismissed right there. They don't want people with brains.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    9. Re:Accept Jury Duty by qwijibo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you ever end up in court, do you want to be tried by a jury of people too dumb to get out of jury duty? Read up on jury nullification. Without people knowledgeable and willing to perform jury duty, you end up with a crowd of people who votes the way the court directs them to vote.

      In many cases, like the type you cite, it's pretty simple. But you don't get to throw a monkey wrench into the types of cases you care about if you're not willing to serve on any jury.

    10. Re:Accept Jury Duty by RESPAWN · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      How did this not get modded flamebait? This post has absolutely nothing to do with open WAPs and is an intentionally inflamatory comment, posted no doubt with the hopes that others will respond with similarly inflamatory comments about our rights to own guns.

      Mods, please review your guidelines. (Specifically the part about not modding comments simply becuase you may or may not agree with the poster's sentiments.)

      --

      If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will.

    11. Re:Accept Jury Duty by wbates · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Yeah, but I have yet to see much in the way of an elected official or candidate who knows much about technology. They always seem ready and willing to accept FUD. They tend to take the "let's be extra cautious" route instead of the "educate me" route.

    12. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Either that or they don't want people who think "Having a brain" means "Being disrespectful of authority on principle"

    13. Re:Accept Jury Duty by LighterShadeOfBlack · · Score: 0, Troll

      You might want to turn down your sense of outrage. It seems to be set to hyper-fucking-sensitive.

      My post was nothing more than an off-the-cuff remark. A joke, if you want. Not too sure how it got +2 Insightful within 5 minutes but whatever, don't blame me for what mods do with my post.

      --
      Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
    14. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Atraxen · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "how exactly would this involuntary servitude have any bearing on affirming or defending our rights?"
      - Your Comment

      "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense."
      - Amendment IV, Bill of Rights

      That's how - by sitting on a jury, so are upholding your right to be tried by one. This is, after all, a participatory republic (non-standard term intentionally used to avoid the inevitable and obligatory participatory democracy vs republic argument.)

      --
      Be careful of your thoughts; they could become words at any minute...
    15. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Notquitecajun · · Score: 1

      Hey, watch the plagiarism. "When you go into court, you are putting your fate into the hands of 12 people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty." - Norm Crosby

    16. Re:Accept Jury Duty by slughead · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just a reminder to ACCEPT jury duty if you get called. It is one of the best ways to directly affect how things work in the U.S.

      Sure, aside from the (already mentioned) fact that 99.9% of the time it's DUI or something else inane.

      Also, most of the time, juries are advised to not judge the law, but judge whether or not someone broke the law.

      Of course, there's jack they can do to you as a juror if you say "Hey, I can't in good conscience let this kid go to jail for something this stupid; NOT GUILTY!" However, the judge can claim a mistrial if he finds out that's the reason for the 'not guilty' verdict, even after the verdict is read.

      If I ever get on a jury for a law I disagree with, the defendant is going to walk either by hung jury, mistrial, or not guilty verdict, and that's that.

    17. Re:Accept Jury Duty by sirinek · · Score: 0

      By the 6th amendment, if we are accuused of a felony (such as robbing liquor store or the charges brought up in TFA) we have a right to a trial by a jury of our peers.

      That includes you assuming you are an American.

    18. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Fangs78 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I would rather have the right to have a jury of kittens decide what the facts are if I'm charged with a crime...Think about that! Everyone would be busy looking at those cute balls of fur rolling around in a cardboard box, while I sneak away with the judges hot daughter! W00t!

    19. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Otter · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Given that neither the submitter nor 95% of the people commenting here correctly understand what the defendant was arguing, I'm not so sure I want you people on my jury either.

    20. Re:Accept Jury Duty by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 1

      LSOB,
      In order to prevent a recurrence of this situation please stop posting insightful jokes. ;-)

    21. Re:Accept Jury Duty by jimstapleton · · Score: 1

      I wis simply replying to the GP's comment on going to jury duty so you can be an 'informed' juror instead of a the jury only being clueless schmucks - except modern legal procedures don't allow informed jurors.

      I'll admit, I didn't RTF, mostly because my thoughts are - if you are dumb enough to use unsecured wireless, you deserve whatever you get.

      --
      34486853790
      Connection too slow for X forwarding? Try "ssh -CX user@host"
    22. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 6th Amendment deals with the rights of the Accused in a criminal prosecution. There are no requirements that the accused be a citizen or even a resident.

    23. Re:Accept Jury Duty by hmbcarol · · Score: 1

      I suspect your definition of "rights" is far narrower than that of the founders.

      One important component of protecting citizens rights is for us to pony up and do jury duty every once in a while. Those precious online rights you care about are based on precedent from good old fashioned civil rights in "First Life".

    24. Re:Accept Jury Duty by paganizer · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      ....And the 4 other customers in the store have a right, and duty, to pull out their legal & licensed 10mm & 44's and simultaneously dispense evolutionary law.

      --
      Why, yes, I AM a Pagan Libertarian.
    25. Re:Accept Jury Duty by SupremoMan · · Score: 1

      You get to throw the book at them :)

    26. Re:Accept Jury Duty by TheGreek · · Score: 1

      Just a reminder to ACCEPT jury duty if you get called. It is one of the best ways to directly affect how things work in the U.S.
      Except that juries don't make determinations as to the admissibility of evidence.
    27. Re:Accept Jury Duty by FuzzyDaddy · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Still worth it. I was part of a hung jury over a guy that sold $10 worth of Crack cocaine to an undercover officer. One day of jury selection, one half day trial, 2 and a half days arguing. But it was really and interesting process.

      On the other hand, the judge let me out of a murder trial because I pulled the "I work for a small company and three weeks would hurt the business badly", which he was sympathetic to. (And which was true...)

      --
      It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
    28. Re:Accept Jury Duty by lawpoop · · Score: 5, Informative

      Given the number of libertarians that post on slashdot, I'm surprised nobody has enlightened you to the concept of Jury Nullification. In the US legal system, juries judge the case *and* the law. Here's more information.

      --
      Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
      -- Pablo Picasso
    29. Re:Accept Jury Duty by guspasho · · Score: 1

      Because possibly far more often than 1 out of a hundred times the punk or the drunk or whomever is actually innocent. Come on, would you really rather have police come to your house and shoot you on sight for no goddamn reason whatsoever, because they thought you were guilty of a crime and because they can, because we did away with the judicial system, because we were too lazy to do our civic duty?

    30. Re:Accept Jury Duty by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      The presider in the jury room when I was recently called emphatically said that owning a small, or even one person business would not be tolerated as an excuse. After all, we are getting reimbursed for mileage and parking, that should be enough to buy food for the family while the business is shut down (and for months thereafter as people who went to your business while you were out now assume it is closed forever).
      As an aside, did they convict the guy who sold the cop the crack? Did they convict the officer for buying it?

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    31. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, most of the time, juries are advised to not judge the law, but judge whether or not someone broke the law.

      You are there to judge guilt, which is philosophically more than whether someone broke the law or not (and the founders of the country held this view as well). If the jurors do not think what the person did was wrong wrong then they should not expect the person to be guilty. The concept of doing the right thing is also the foundation of things like self defense and extenuating circumstances.

    32. Re:Accept Jury Duty by DragonWriter · · Score: 1

      If I ever get on a jury for a law I disagree with, the defendant is going to walk either by hung jury, mistrial, or not guilty verdict, and that's that.


      Of course, for that reason alone, unless you break the law by lying during voir dire, you going to be excused for cause from any such jury, so that's not going to be an issue.
    33. Re:Accept Jury Duty by kck · · Score: 0

      I object!

    34. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Guppy06 · · Score: 1

      "Just a reminder to ACCEPT jury duty if you get called."

      You mean all this time it's been voluntary?

    35. Re:Accept Jury Duty by sexyrexy · · Score: 1

      That's an easy predicament to get out of. "Awful lot of honkeys in here..." - Peter Griffin.

      --

      Rex is 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    36. Re:Accept Jury Duty by hazem · · Score: 1

      It's not disrespect of authority, but disrespect of authority that has earned it.

      For example, I have a friend who is in law school. The first day of the first class, the teacher wrote on the board:

      "According to the law, an apple is red, round, and firm."

      She then held up a variety of objects, asking if they were apples. Finally, she held up a red plastic ball.

      Most people said, "no".

      "Wrong", she declared. "This object is round, red, and firm, and in the eyes of the law, it is an apple."

      Any system that is based on a way of thinking that is so blatantly wrong and illogical deserves no respect from... well, anyone.

    37. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I understand completely. It's all Microsoft's fault and they abused their monopoly power by bribing the judge to suppress the incident where Steve Balmer threw a chair at the prosecution after it was suggested that linux was better.

      </my lame attempt at humor>

      Bah I'm tired and trying to be witty... against my better judgement I hit submit...

      10 PRINT "SORRY WORLD";
      20 GOTO 10
      RUN

    38. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but I'm not disrespectful. And since when is being informed and having a brain = being disrespectful? Actually, by stating what I do, I offer them more respect than they offer potential jury members. I'm at least truthful. (I am a pain in the Arse).

      Disrespect is calling someone's mother a Ho, flipping the bird, being loud and obnoxious etc. I actually have a great deal of respect for the system, I just don't see it being respectful in its current form to 1) rule of law, 2) truth, 3) Participants. So, I make my case as to why they don't want someone who actually cares about 1, 2 and 3.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    39. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Hijacked+Public · · Score: 1

      The presumption you and the original jury duty guy make is that because you know a lot about technology you'll be able to decide rightly about a case involving technology.

      While this may be true in some cases it obviously would not have been overwhelmingly so with this one. Reading the replies you find a large number of people who either didn't read or couldn't understand the case as described in the article yet they feel compelled to comment. For many it is just a nice opportunity to take a shot at heavy handed governments, maybe throw in a line that proves you read 1984 just like everyone else did in 8th grade lit class, maybe point out that Europe has more surveillence cameras than Picasso got paint.

      I guess this is just an extension of the usual geek mentality that because they can program a computer, and a computer can do rocket science, they can now do rocket science. Unfortunately not everyone else on earth is a moron but you and the rest of the bunch at the LUG meeting. Sometimes people can sit on a jury and not necessarily know how TCP/IP works and still make the right decision. The subject of the article being an excellent point, assuming no geeks were on hand in the deliberation room to explain everything to everyone.

      --
      "Sacrifice for the good of The State" - The State
    40. Re:Accept Jury Duty by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      or, if they're politically savvy gun nuts, they could pull out pocket knives and stab the fucker to death, just to keep the heat off the firearm ownership issue for so trivial a problem

    41. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      How did this not get modded offtopic? This post has absolutely nothing to do with open WAPs and is an intentionally inflamatory comment, posted no doubt with the hopes that others will respond with similarly inflamatory comments.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    42. Re:Accept Jury Duty by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      and a nice bunch of retired folk with nothing better to do, and those who love legal soap operas can get the innocent off the hook. There is no civic duty, that's a lie of those who love involuntary servitude. the right American way would be for paid volunteers to do jury service (and having to pay would eliminate frivolous trials). I've lost hundreds of dollars a day serving on a jury for cases that were stupid (DUI and traffic violation), the state needs to pay me hundreds of dollars of day to ever engage in such waste of my time again.

    43. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And each of them could think that the other three are partners of the punk, it should be fun.

    44. Re:Accept Jury Duty by jimstapleton · · Score: 1

      The assumption you make is that we made that assumption.

      I only made the comment in respect to cases where technology was a critical role, as a reply to the GP.

      Maybe you should calm down and stop making so many assumptions yourself.

      --
      34486853790
      Connection too slow for X forwarding? Try "ssh -CX user@host"
    45. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Dachannien · · Score: 2, Informative

      In most jurisdictions, you will be instructed by the judge that your duty is narrowly defined to determine whether the defendant did what the prosecution alleges according to statute. If the law forbids someone from gargling peanut butter, then your job is to answer the question, "Did the defendant gargle peanut butter as alleged in the indictment?" Your job is not to determine whether you like the law or not. Crafting the law is within the purview of the legislature.

      Prosecutors will try to eliminate a juror whom they suspect will try to nullify a law. Wear your marijuana leaf ballcap into the courtroom during voir dire for a drug possession case, and you'll probably be one of their picks to be excluded from the jury. Most jurors are asked at some point during this process, sometimes en masse by the judge, whether their personal beliefs would prevent you from rendering a verdict of guilty or a verdict of not guilty on the charges alleged, and since the question is answered under oath, they conceivably could be charged with perjury if they answer untruthfully.

    46. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      And then the guy in the parking lot sets off his suitcase nuke.



      Wait, what were we talking about?

    47. Re:Accept Jury Duty by jb.hl.com · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I haven't sat on a jury yet, as I get dismissed right there. They don't want people with brains.

      No, they want someone who can actually do jury duty without making a fuss about how he's the only one who can think for himself in a room full of clueless sheep. The reason you got dismissed is because you were being deliberately obstructive, obnoxious even, for no real reason.

      You sound like you're trying to roleplay some kind of House M.D. fanfic. It's quite worrying.

      --
      By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
    48. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Red+Flayer · · Score: 1

      Just a reminder to ACCEPT jury duty if you get called.
      Admissibility of evidence is not determined by the jury, it's determined by the judge. Jurors using inadmissible evidence in deliberations, or refusing to use admitted evidence, is grounds for a mistrial.

      I agree that serving on a jury is great, but it affects the output, not the process (which is where the most serious problems are).
      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    49. Re:Accept Jury Duty by arth1 · · Score: 1

      That's how - by sitting on a jury, so are upholding your right to be tried by one. This is, after all, a participatory republic (non-standard term intentionally used to avoid the inevitable and obligatory participatory democracy vs republic argument.)

      No, it isn't. It's a representative republic. You don't participate in making the decisions, you vote on who gets to make the decisions, and then are helpless and have to accept whatever decision they come up with. Whether it's an electorate college or a judge overruling a jury.
    50. Re:Accept Jury Duty by NormalVisual · · Score: 1

      After all, we are getting reimbursed for mileage and parking, that should be enough to buy food for the family while the business is shut down (and for months thereafter as people who went to your business while you were out now assume it is closed forever).

      At that point, it might be worth asking the judge what the sentence for contempt of court is. If you're looking at having to take a month off for a big trial (sinking your livelihood in the process), or two days in jail for contempt, well.... :-)

      --
      Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
    51. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Arkiel · · Score: 3, Informative

      Hello Jury Nullification! A crying shame that this will never be included in actual Jury instruction.

    52. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Atraxen · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hence the "democracy vs republic" distinction. I was obviously right on at least one count: the argument is both inevitable and obligatory...

      --
      Be careful of your thoughts; they could become words at any minute...
    53. Re:Accept Jury Duty by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1
      Most jurors are asked at some point during this process, sometimes en masse by the judge, whether their personal beliefs would prevent you from rendering a verdict of guilty or a verdict of not guilty on the charges alleged, and since the question is answered under oath, they conceivably could be charged with perjury if they answer untruthfully.

      "Could conceivably" -- the State would have a hell of a time proving it, though, thankfully. If you really think that a law is unjust, hold your nose, lie through your teeth, and vote to acquit. It's not worth a year or more of someone else's life!

      -b.

    54. Re:Accept Jury Duty by einhverfr · · Score: 1

      Just a note about jury nullification... (IANAL)

      The role of a jury is supposed to be one of determining the facts. Juries are within their domain as long as they only do fact finding. Judges are supposed to determine the law.

      In this case, this means that the jury can, for whatever reason (and following due process), decide that the facts are whatever they want to. So yes, the jury can say, "Yes, we have 10 witnesses to the murder, but we think there is reasonable doubt. After all, he seems like a nice kid... Sorry..." But the jury cannot say "This law is unconstitutional and therefore we won't uphold it."

      The better question is: why are we discussing jury nullification regarding child porn? Who actually thinks that would be a good idea?

      --

      LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
    55. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Myopic · · Score: 1

      The original poster phrased his sentence in a way that made me assume he was well aware of jury nullification, but also aware that judges almost never ever ever *instruct* the jury about it, and in fact rather often specifically tell the jury not to pursue it. That's why the poster said

      most of the time, juries are advised to not judge the law, but judge whether or not someone broke the law

      Also, remember that jury nullification is also the reason white men were never convicted of killing black men in the American Deep South during segregation. It cuts both ways.

    56. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Just a reminder to ACCEPT jury duty if you get called. It is one of the best ways to directly affect how things work in the U.S.

      I'm assuming you're referring to jury nullification. If so, well said.

    57. Re:Accept Jury Duty by einhverfr · · Score: 1

      Well, I suspect that if you start talking with reporters about how the law is unconstitutional and you would never convict someone under it, you might have a problem.

      Again, the jury can say the facts are whatever they want to make them. So rather than saying "I won't vote to convict someone for medical marijuana" you can say "there is reasonable doubt."

      --

      LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
    58. Re:Accept Jury Duty by BarefootClown · · Score: 1

      The role of a jury is supposed to be one of determining the facts. Juries are within their domain as long as they only do fact finding. Judges are supposed to determine the law.

      "It is presumed, that juries are the best judges of facts; it is, on the other hand, presumed that courts are the best judges of law. But still both objects are within your power of decision... you [juries] have a right to take it upon yourselves to judge of both, and to determine the law as well as the fact in controversy."


      --John Jay, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Georgia v. Brailsford, 1794

      --

      "Make it ten--I am only a poor corrupt official."
      --Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), Casablanca

    59. Re:Accept Jury Duty by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1
      So rather than saying "I won't vote to convict someone for medical marijuana" you can say "there is reasonable doubt."

      You can refuse to talk to the press at all. And, BTW, you have no legal obligation to disclose why you voted for a given verdict. Jury deliberations ARE supposed to be secret after all.

      -b.

    60. Re:Accept Jury Duty by arminw · · Score: 1

      ......Any system that is based on a way of thinking that is so blatantly wrong and illogical .........

      Whoever said the laws have to be either right or logical? A legislature defines the law. If the law says all pink is also red, then in a legal sense that is the law as defined by a body of people we have hired to make laws. Courts are supposed to uphold the law. It doesn't matter whether that law is wrong or illogical. If enough people think that is the case, then the legislators will generally listen, because they do not wish to be fired by their boss, the electorate. The electorate gets to do a job review of all legislators at regular intervals and can get rid of those who make bad laws.

      However, as in any government job, it isn't easy to fire anybody.

      --
      All theory is gray
    61. Re:Accept Jury Duty by batkiwi · · Score: 1

      Sure, aside from the (already mentioned) fact that 99.9% of the time it's DUI or something else inane

      DUIs are inane to you? I honestly have no way to reply to that.

    62. Re:Accept Jury Duty by FuzzyDaddy · · Score: 1
      In the end, the case was declared a mistrial. 11 jurors were for acquittal, one was for conviction. I don't know if the case was brought again, but I kind of doubt it.

      The judge I got who let me go was actually the chief judge of the court, and a very nice guy, from what I could tell. It's up to the judge.

      My wife had a knack for getting called for duty when she was in the third trimester of pregnancy. They's tell her on the phone that preganancy was not an valid excuse. When she got in, whoever was working intake would immediately send her home.

      --
      It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
    63. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      DUIs are inane to you? I honestly have no way to reply to that.

      Then kindly STFU.

    64. Re:Accept Jury Duty by theonetruekeebler · · Score: 1

      Just a reminder to ACCEPT jury duty if you get called. It is one of the best ways to directly affect how things work in the U.S. I'm a little surprised to learn here that there are jurisdictions in the U.S. where accepting jury duty is optional. In my state it is not, unless you are either totally disabled, or mentally incompetent. If you refuse to accept, a bench warrant can be issued against you.

      If you are a citizen of this country, it is critical to the bargain of citizenship: If you are accused of a crime, you are entitled to a jury of your peers. In return, if you are called for jury duty, you must go.

      As you said, it's one of the best ways to affect things -- at least, for those of us who can't afford a lobbyist.

      A few other posters on this thread have saddened me greatly by exhibiting a smug preoccupation with how to get out of serving on a jury. I invite them to consider how this impacts the bargain: if they are accused of a crime, do they really want a jury of the dumb and complacent? Or do they want their fate in the hands of those who can think and are willing to take seriously their obligations?

      --
      This is not my sandwich.
    65. Re:Accept Jury Duty by KudyardRipling · · Score: 1

      'Tis exactly the point, especially for "crimes" involving "intellectual property". /* What? You have investments in the IP sector? ***BOOT*** You are NOT serving on THIS jury! */

      In this case, one must screen from the pool the "if he/she's there, they're guilty" types or those who "don't understand that the concept of separating church and state means removing morals legislation from the statute books". /* What? You believe in morals legislation? Where's your turban or burka? TALIBAN! ***BOOT*** You are NOT serving on THIS jury. */

      The worst type of juror is the one who thinks that his/her decision won't somehow make sudden dental contact with his/her gluteus maximus in the future. This is called the "how could they make me into soap and lampshades" juror.

      The problem is that too many people are doing too well to care about liberty issues. We are being singaporified.

      here in the US of A
      money is ruling today
      rewarding the best
      and jailing the rest
      for there will be no other way

      --
      Submission as evidence constitutes plaintiff and/or prosecutorial misconduct.
    66. Re:Accept Jury Duty by likes2comment · · Score: 1

      I just tell them my feelings about traffic cops -- "They only good ones are retired, off-duty or dead! They are all assholes that work for a kangaroo court." By then they simply reject me as "he's going to be a pain or problem".

    67. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Dachannien · · Score: 1

      This is certainly true while the case is ongoing, but after the case is concluded, in general, you're discharged fully from your duties and can discuss deliberations as much as you'd like. In special cases, the judge may instruct otherwise - situations involving kids would be a good example.

    68. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      She then held up a variety of objects, asking if they were apples.

      Alternatively, she could have turned around, flipped up her skirt, displayed her spanked butt and asked the same question.

    69. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "Wrong", she declared. "This object is round, red, and firm, and in the eyes of the law, it is an apple."

      I believe the logical fallacy there is called modus ponens, with a missing major premise. I also bet she was dead wrong.

    70. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now that one was funny.

    71. Re:Accept Jury Duty by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Your friend had a terrible teacher then who gave a totally inaccurate impression of law interpreted by the courts. Most judges would be able to see the flaw of the argument "X looks like Y. You have something that looks like Y, therefore it is X." It won't be long until you'd get some case about someone who tried passing off, say, a cheap knock-off that exactly resembled a Rolex as a Rolex itself. That wasn't a flaw in the system, simply your friend's teacher using a terrible analogy.

  3. solution. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have secured my wap.

    I hope nobody finds out that the passphrase is 0x01020304050607080910111213

    I also hope others do not do the same and we all create open accesspoints that are actually secure :-)

    Now we can claim we were hacked! problem solved and stupid lawyers and police are end run for at least a few more years.

    1. Re:solution. by mpathetiq · · Score: 1

      Mine is 12345678901234567890abcdef. Feel free!

    2. Re:solution. by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Funny

      I hope nobody finds out that the passphrase is 0x01020304050607080910111213

      No worries, I've changed it for you already. :P

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    3. Re:solution. by inviolet · · Score: 1

      [...] and we all create open accesspoints that are actually secure :-)

      There's actually a good way to set that up.

      --
      FATMOUSE + YOU = FATMOUSE
    4. Re:solution. by Minwee · · Score: 1

      That's amazing! I've got the same combination on my luggage.

  4. Something is fishy here.. by EveryNickIsTaken · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This guy gave a conditional guilty plea even though "evidence" linked the yahoo account to his roommate. You don't accept a deal for 4 years in prison if you're not guilty. Clearly, someone is lying here.

    1. Re:Something is fishy here.. by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 4, Informative

      This guy gave a conditional guilty plea even though "evidence" linked the yahoo account to his roommate. You don't accept a deal for 4 years in prison if you're not guilty. Clearly, someone is lying here.

      He plead guilty because they found stacks of DVDs with child pornography on them in his room. His only hope was to have that evidence nullified by claiming the search was illegal, under the reasoning that just because child porn was transmitted through his access point did not mean the cops has reason to suspect him in particular or search his residence. He has a slight point and warrants in these cases should be issued for the entire residence and all people therein. Still, it is pretty likely he and his roommate were both guilty.

    2. Re:Something is fishy here.. by EveryNickIsTaken · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So, the headline should actually say "Open WAP defense not valid in cases where you have stacks of incriminating evidence in your residence."

    3. Re:Something is fishy here.. by garcia · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You don't accept a deal for 4 years in prison if you're not guilty. Clearly, someone is lying here.

      Because the general public (and thus the jury) probably won't understand what an Open WAP is and what it means in this case, his lawyer probably told him to take the deal instead of facing more time when he loses.

    4. Re:Something is fishy here.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BULLSHIT You accept guilty please as the lesser of two evils!

    5. Re:Something is fishy here.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't accept a deal for 4 years in prison if you're not guilty.

      or when you know you'll get a worse sentence even if you are innocent...
    6. Re:Something is fishy here.. by enjo13 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      More correctly it should say 'Open WAP is not protection from search warrant.' That's essentially what the legal question was here. Does the fact that one has a Open WAP prevent the police from having probable cause to search your residence for electronic crimes? This guy was making an argument that he was essentially an ISP for whoever happened to drive by his house. There are established protections for ISP's that prevent search and siezure of their equipment when someone downstream transmits across their network. This guy was arguing that he should enjoy those same protections. The court ruled that when you run a unsecured wireless network that the police have probable cause to assume that you might be directly involved in whatever illegal traffic crosses your network (it's not clear how this applies to wireless points that themselves have downstream nodes). That's all..

      --
      Turn s60 photos into awesome videos with mScrapbook for all S60 3rd edition phones!
    7. Re:Something is fishy here.. by EveryNickIsTaken · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So, in effect, if you want to send child pornography over the net, you should go to a Starbucks and use their Open WAP?

    8. Re:Something is fishy here.. by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      Yep, mention their "Cup of Joe and Child Porn" special to receive 50 cents off your latte.

      Realistically though, I would sit OUTSIDE of Starbucks and use their connection. Retail stores often have video cameras that could be used to see who was in the store at the time of the criminal activity. Oh, and use one of these to get even further away to avoid outside surveillance cameras.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    9. Re:Something is fishy here.. by Altus · · Score: 1


      hummm... what sort of effect might this have on some of the municipal wireless networks being setup. Im not sure I disagree with the ruling but it leaves a line to be drawn between an ISP and someone who shares his network connection with a friend.

      --

      "In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson

    10. Re:Something is fishy here.. by Buran · · Score: 1

      As a defense to the case if the warrant is upheld? No. However, you cannot be convicted solely on the basis of evidence that wasn't legally obtained. It is not legal for police to search the house without probable cause, and the argument here was that the warrant was not obtained based on valid probable cause. In other words, the argument was that the police did not legally obtain said incriminating evidence, so it should not be admissible in court. The police would then have to convict based on other, legally-obtained evidence.

    11. Re:Something is fishy here.. by Ayandia · · Score: 1

      You do accept a deal for 4 years if your lawyer tells you there's 5 year minimum and a 20 year maximum for the crime. Odds are he was facing 10+ years, and guilty or not you have to consider what a jury is going to think of your case.

      A stack of CDs in his room was not put there over his open WAP, but once the government deems them child pornography the Adam Walsh Act prohibits access to child pornography evidence as contraband, as though it were a kilo of cocaine. What this really mean is that in child porn cases, people can be convicted without the prosecution turning over evidence to the defense. If the defense doesn't make enough of a stink, they may never get more than an affidavit. And the defense can hire an expert to examine the evidence, but that expert will have to do all their work at a government facility.

      A guy that lives with a roommate probably can't afford a seriously good lawyer, and even a really good lawyer would still have to fight to get access to the evidence. It is your right to demand evidence be examined, validated and otherwise poked at by a neutral party. And we need to demand the rights of ACCUSED child pornographers be defended as we would have our rights defended...a few more laws like this and we won't have rights to worry about.

      Clearly child porn shouldn't be handed out on the street, but if you are being accused of possessing it they still need to make it available to your defense so someone besides the prosecution can say "Yup, that's child porn". CDs full of pictures of 17 year olds and skinny asians in pigtails is WAY different from toddlers, but 100% identical to the prosecution.

    12. Re:Something is fishy here.. by DragonWriter · · Score: 1

      hummm... what sort of effect might this have on some of the municipal wireless networks being setup.


      None.

      Im not sure I disagree with the ruling but it leaves a line to be drawn between an ISP and someone who shares his network connection with a friend.


      The probability that there will be physical evidence located in the same building as an ISP that routinely handles traffic from many widely distributed clients, and the probability that there will be physical evidence at the building with the WiFi AP to which a packet can be traced are not really similar.

      Yes, its a fuzzy distinction and there might be some tricky edge cases, but that's pretty much the case in every area of the law. Nice, crisp boundaries are more the thing of theory than practical reality.
    13. Re:Something is fishy here.. by Kernel+Kurtz · · Score: 1
      This guy was making an argument that he was essentially an ISP for whoever happened to drive by his house. There are established protections for ISP's that prevent search and siezure of their equipment when someone downstream transmits across their network.

      Exactly true.

      However, with those ISP protections come ISP obligations, like lawful access and the ability to produce usage records when a search warrant is produced.

      I don't think either the courts or the politicians are going to let you have one without the other.

    14. Re:Something is fishy here.. by westlake · · Score: 1
      Because the general public (and thus the jury) probably won't understand what an Open WAP is and what it means in this case

      But the jury will understand what a stack of DVDs means in this case - and that is all they get to decide.

    15. Re:Something is fishy here.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      uh, no. the public does know what an open access point is - or can learn.

      that's why the attorney said to plea. an open wap doesn't place stacks of child porn dvds in your room. the public would understand that.

  5. Probably Cause? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is this a new legal term?

    You probably did it. ??

    1. Re:Probably Cause? by master0ne · · Score: 1

      probablt cause is a OLD legal term, what is means is that the police have gatherd enough evidence to support you "probably did it" that it merits a search warrant to actually establish weather or not you did it, and in cases where they "did it" or where its unclear, its upto the courts to sort it out. In this case, they gatherd probable cause (he probably did it because the ip address was his), searched his house, found kiddie porn laden DVD's in his room (establishing he DID it), the courts took over from there... finding him guilty of the crime.

      --
      Noone writes jokes in base 13!
    2. Re:Probably Cause? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably Cause?
      Probablt Cause??

      I'm in the twilight zone here.

  6. Probable Cause != Guilt by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just to clarify before a hundred people comment without understanding this distinction. The court in this case ruled that child pornography tracked to a given open access point was probable cause to search that residence and specifically the rooms belonging to the person who ran the open access point. They did not rule that running the open access point proved that the owner was guilty of transmitting the child pornography, but ruled him guilty because of the stacks of DVDs found in his room.

    1. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by AGMW · · Score: 3, Informative
      ... and to continue the clarification, if I understand correctly, the guy was guilty as sin, but was trying to get off (and not for the first time *cough*) on a technicality - ie You can't use the evidence you found because you shouldn't have come into the room to search in the first place because, given that the access point was open, you couldn't prove who had actually used it, and therefore any evidence found (on the computer in question) would not (necessarily) be attributable to any individual.

      Nice try ass-hat!

      If he had got off on the technicality then the law would have, once again, shown itself to be stupid. In this case, it seems, sanity struggled to the surface and prevailed.

      --
      Eclectic beats from Leeds, UK
      handmadehands.co.uk
    2. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by Billosaur · · Score: 1

      And while that may be true, this is the Guilty-Because-It's-On-The-News-And-They-Don't-Lie Age. Remember the whole Duke Lacrosse Incident? Gulity! String 'em up! Oh... wait... inconsistencies... hmmmmm... still... they look guilty... what?!? Not guilty? Knew it all along!

      As soon as your name (or IP address) is spread across the news as being attached to a crime, even innocently, your are convicted in the Court of Under-informed Public Opinion. Look at the guy they originally accused of the '96 Atlanta Olympics bombing. His name was dragged through the media for weeks until they suddenly found out it was actual an anti-abortion freak who thought he was doing "good works" (Ok, this is a very vague outlay of the incident, but it was over 10 years ago and if you want specific infor, Google it). He had the hardest time getting his life back once he was fully acquitted. Don't kid yourself -- guilt and innocence are relative to your media profile now.

      --
      GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
    3. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by Homr+Zodyssey · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And for all of the people claiming that this is terrible -- here's the way I see it.

      Imagine a cop is walking down the street, and smells marijuana smoke in front of a house. This gives him probable cause to walk onto the property. As he gets nearer to the building, the smell gets stronger. This gives him probable cause to enter the building. He goes inside and finds a sack and a bong in someone's bedroom. The occupant of that room then says, "Hey man, you can't use that against me...that smell outside could have come from anywhere."
      That argument isn't going to work.

    4. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      And while that may be true, this is the Guilty-Because-It's-On-The-News-And-They-Don't-Lie Age.

      I don't watch the news on TV much, but when I do I seem to hear a lot of "the accused" or "the defendant" or "the suspect." In this particular case, the person has been convicted, which legally, is considered guilty. This has nothing to do with the media.

      Remember the whole Duke Lacrosse Incident?

      No. I did not follow the case.

      As soon as your name (or IP address) is spread across the news as being attached to a crime, even innocently, your are convicted in the Court of Under-informed Public Opinion.

      While that may relate to rules of conduct with regard to police disclosures and with regard to ethical reporting practices, I don't see how it relates here.

      Don't kid yourself -- guilt and innocence are relative to your media profile now.

      Again, while this may be a serious issue, it does not relate to the matter at hand, which is what constitutes probable cause for the police to search for more evidence. This has nothing to do with arresting a person or publicizing an investigation. The real danger here is overzealous police who, unlike the general populace, are in a position to corrupt an investigation when they fail to understand this distinction. If, for example, a police officer did not understand the concept of an open wireless port and instead understood that this guy was somehow attached to that number, but that was not good enough for conviction, so they brought some kiddie porn CDs with them to plant in his room.

      For reasons of the above scenario I support much more transparency in all investigations, harsher penalties for abusing their position, and more education and training and higher standards for police officers. In my opinion any police officer convicted of a violent crime or theft should immediately be fired and banned from future service. Any police officer convicted of a crime while in uniform or on duty or of intentionally planting evidence or the like should be subjected to the most serious of penalties, like serving 10 times the likely sentence of the person they were framing as well as being fired and banned.

      As for the media coverage and public opinion, I don't see that there is a lot you can do so long as people are morons and pay attention to sensationalist pseudo news instead of real news sources.

    5. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by gnasher719 · · Score: 1

      Example: You killed somebody and the dead body is in your kitchen. If the police enter your house without a search warrant, they can't use the dead body as evidence against you.

      Now if you have an open WAP, and some criminal uses it for his own evil purposes, and the police track it down to your IP address, then this isn't enough evidence to convict you, but it is enough evidence to get a search warrant. Once they are inside the house and find the dead body in the kitchen, they can get you for murder - even if you can prove that you have nothing at all to do with the crime that they got a search warrant for.

    6. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by computational+super · · Score: 1

      No, it's more like, you run an open access point, and some woman has marijuana smoke IM'ed to her and she notifies the police and when they show up and find marijuana, you say, "no, somebody was smoking that pot through my open access point, it wasn't me".

      --
      Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
    7. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "For reasons of the above scenario I support much more transparency in all investigations, harsher penalties for abusing their position, and more education and training and higher standards for police officers. In my opinion any police officer convicted of a violent crime or theft should immediately be fired and banned from future service. Any police officer convicted of a crime while in uniform or on duty or of intentionally planting evidence or the like should be subjected to the most serious of penalties, like serving 10 times the likely sentence of the person they were framing as well as being fired and banned."

      The police unions will make sure that NEVER happens.

      "As for the media coverage and public opinion, I don't see that there is a lot you can do so long as people are morons and pay attention to sensationalist pseudo news instead of real news sources."

      Ain't gonna happen. Of course one man's "real news source" is another man's "pseudo news".

    8. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by da_yingyang0 · · Score: 1

      Actually that argument would work because your cop didn't go and get a warrant before entering the house. You need PC (probable cause) to get the warrant, but you can't enter the building just because you have probable cause unless there is an exigency (and there wouldn't be in this case). So in sum, you're not seeing it correctly. Here is how it is: the ip address gives you PC to get the warrant. You must get the warrant before searching the house. Without more evidence the guy wouldn't be convicted, but since this guy had the DVDs he was convicted, and the conviction was correctly upheld.

    9. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by maxume · · Score: 1

      Actually, if the police hear someone scream in your house and announce themselves and you fail to respond, they can go ahead and enter without a warrant or your permission, and the body would be used against you. Their entry has to meet the standards for probable cause, but it isn't that hard.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    10. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by CopaceticOpus · · Score: 1

      Well, this should make it easy to get anyone's home legally searched. Say you're a prosecutor who can't get a warrant approved through the usual channels, or you're just a guy who suspects your neighbor is growing pot. All you need to do is connect to the target's WAP late at night, search for some illegal images, post them where the FBI will see, and then sit back and wait. Your neighbor might not get convicted on the child porn, but they're open to get convicted on anything else found.

    11. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      If the cops have a search warrant for child porn, and they find pot plants, they will seize the plants and growing equimpment, but most likely will not be able to charge them with any crimes related to the pot. In order to legally seize property, cops need to have the items they are specifically looking for on a search warrant. A search warrant isn't a "blank check" that can be used to search for anything. If you actually suspected your neighbor of growing pot and wanted to get them busted, the easist way would be an anonymous phone tip with you lying and saying you have observed the plants firsthand yourself.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    12. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The court in this case ruled that [pirated movies] tracked to a given open access point was probable cause to search that residence and specifically the rooms belonging to the person who ran the open access point. They did not rule that running the open access point proved that the owner was guilty of transmitting the [pirated movies], but ruled him guilty because of the stacks of DVDs found in his room.

      I know we all agree that child pornography is bad and that most of us agree that he was guilty. I'm just afraid those two facts are obscuring the issue of whether this ruling was correct. How long will it be before the MPAA/RIAA start monitoring the airwaves and asking for warrants?

    13. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by Manchot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If he had got off on the technicality then the law would have, once again, shown itself to be stupid.

      I'd hardly call the Fourth Amendment a stupid technicality. In this particular instance, it was determined to be irrelevant, but it doesn't mean that its general application is stupid. It protects us from random raids by the police by ensuring that any evidence collected improperly is useless to them.

    14. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      If the cops have a search warrant for child porn, and they find pot plants, they will seize the plants and growing equimpment, but most likely will not be able to charge them with any crimes related to the pot.

      And this, my friends, is why you should not take legal advice from someone called "Mister Whirley" on Slashdot.

      A search warrant isn't a "blank check" that can be used to search for anything.

      Assuming you live in the US, a search warrant only allows the police to search for specific items... but anything they find during the course of that search is admissible as evidence of other crimes. For example, if the police get a search warrant to look for a stolen piano, and they look in your desk drawer and find cocaine, a judge will throw out the discovery because it is not reasonable to believe that the officer thought a piano might be in your desk drawer. If, however, the police search your person looking for a gun (either because they have a warrant or in the course of a traffic stop for their own safety) and they find cocaine, it is perfectly legal and you go to jail.

    15. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      ...but ruled him guilty because of the stacks of DVDs found in his room.

      Your analogous situation falls apart at this point because possession of DVDs is not a crime, while possession of child pornography is a crime.

    16. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      To be honest, I wouldn't take legal advice from anyone but your own attorney - you, me, or any other Slashdotters included.

      If you give consent to search, they would not need a warrant and ANYTHING they find can be used. But without consent, only items listed on the search warrant can be legally seized. The only way cops can use evididence obtained that was not listed on a search warrant is -
      1) you give consent to search
      2) investigatory stop: when there is reasonable suspicion that a crime is in progress or is about to occur
      3) search incident to arrest: the person was validly arrested and the search was reasonably conducted.
      4) exigent circumstances : if officers have reason to believe that evidence is being destroyed, or that someone is injured or otherwise in need of assistance

      And this isn't all hypothetical. I know someone who had a crop of marijuana and his growing equipment seized because the cops showed up searching for a felon with an arrest warrant with his address listed. (felon had never been there, probably gave a fake address at some point) Because they were specifically looking for the felon and found the plants by accident, they were unable to charge for the marijuana. Needless to say my friend didn't get any of the equipment or pot back. If you have a firsthand experience that contradicts this, I'd love to hear it.

      If the cops could use anything they find as evidence with a search warrant, why must they list the items they are specifically searching for beforehand?? You need to read up on the 4th ammendment especially the concept of "exclusinary rule" and the Katz vs. United Staes case dealing with "reasonable expectation of privacy".

      Also note that I specifically stated "most likely could not be charged", so there is still a chance you could be charged if special circumstances exist.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    17. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      To be honest, I wouldn't take legal advice from anyone but your own attorney - you, me, or any other Slashdotters included.

      Absolutely positively no one should consider either of our opinions legal advice and should ask a lawyer in their own jurisdiction. I mainly commented because I did not want people falsely counting on your assertions which I very strongly believe to be in error.

      I know someone who had a crop of marijuana and his growing equipment seized because the cops showed up searching for a felon with an arrest warrant with his address listed. (felon had never been there, probably gave a fake address at some point) Because they were specifically looking for the felon and found the plants by accident, they were unable to charge for the marijuana.

      More likely he was not convicted because the cops took the pot home and smoked it.

      If you have a firsthand experience that contradicts this, I'd love to hear it.

      I have no firsthand experience but this was specifically covered by my law classes both in high school and undergrad.

      From answers.com: "In Mapp v. Ohio (1961) the U.S. Supreme Court mandated states to exclude from trial evidence obtained in illegal searches, such as those without a proper warrant. This "exclusionary rule" has been the subject of great controversy and subsequent litigation. In recent years, the Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of the rule, in many circumstances permitting the introduction of any evidence gathered in "good faith.""

      It goes on to include: "Warrants are not required for the gathering of evidence in some circumstances. These exceptions include evidence gathered after a lawful arrest, inspections by customs or border officials, searches made with the suspect's consent, searches of items in plain view, and searches of the belongings of secondary students on school property."

      If the cops could use anything they find as evidence with a search warrant, why must they list the items they are specifically searching for beforehand??

      Exactly for the reason I listed in my previous example. If you're searching for a stolen piano and you find cocaine in a drawer you just violated the 4th amendment. If you're searching for a piano and you find a bag of coke sitting in plain sight on a coffee table it is admissible evidence of drug possession.

      You need to read up on the 4th ammendment[sic] especially the concept of "exclusinary[sic] rule" and the Katz vs. United Staes[sic] case dealing with "reasonable expectation of privacy".

      I understand the 4th amendment just fine, and I'm pretty sure I have a better grasp of the case law surrounding warrants and seizures. So long as officers are attempting to execute a warrant in good faith and are in the process of looking for the objects/persons named, anything they find is not protected by the 4th amendment just because it is not in the warrant. If it was, one could easily get around murder charges by placing the body and murder weapon in the middle of a room, then tipping off the cops that there is marijuana in the room. When they execute their warrant do you really think they could take the body and weapon but not use them as evidence in court since they were "illegally" discovered?

    18. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      "More likely he was not convicted because the cops took the pot home and smoked it."

      Not only was he not convicted, he was never even charged. The stupid sheriffs serving the warrant though they had the French Connection, but the actual drug officer and prosecutors knew it would never stand up in court, so they didn't even bother.

      "If you're searching for a piano and you find a bag of coke sitting in plain sight on a coffee table it is admissible evidence of drug possession."

      If the coke was in plain sight from pulic property and not once they got inside, yep they could bust you for it. However if the search didn't turn up the stolen piano, it does open the door to trying to have the whole thing thrown out. I wouldn't rely on it, but I would certainly explore the possibility.

      "When they execute their warrant do you really think they could take the body and weapon but not use them as evidence in court since they were "illegally" discovered?"

      I am guessing in the case of a capital crime, they would try to invoke the "good faith" rule a little harder than in a simple non-felony drug case.

      In any case these are merely my interpretations of the law, and IANAL.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    19. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      If the coke was in plain sight from pulic[sic] property and not once they got inside, yep they could bust you for it.

      I'm pretty sure if the coke is in plain sight to the officer from anywhere, while they are not already violating your rights, such as while they are executing a legally obtained warrant.

      However if the search didn't turn up the stolen piano, it does open the door to trying to have the whole thing thrown out. I wouldn't rely on it, but I would certainly explore the possibility.

      In case you're interested, the piano analogy was not mine, but was from the lawyer who taught my law class. He talked about how the cops could open any door they wanted since a piano might be behind any of them, but could not look inside a drawer because a piano could not reasonably be expected to be inside a drawer. So long as officers are acting in "good faith" while executing a warrant, anything they find is admissible. If they open a drawer, they are no longer acting in good faith, because they have exceeded the scope of their warrant. Perhaps what might be confusing you is if the cops have a warrant, but did not have a real reason to believe the piano was in that house and were simply using it as a pretext to search for either the drugs or simply anything they could that might be illegal. In that instance that evidence could be thrown out.

      I am guessing in the case of a capital crime, they would try to invoke the "good faith" rule a little harder than in a simple non-felony drug case.

      Are you joking? You honestly believe the cops and courts would be bending the law in all such instances?

      In any case these are merely my interpretations of the law, and IANAL.

      I think your interpretations are very creative, but do not reflect the reality of how the law is enforced.

    20. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      Hey, creative interpretations are what gets laws changed! In any case every court case is merely someone's interpretation of the law. That is why I always laugh when Supreme Court nominations come up and the big concern is whether or not they will "govern according to established law" or try to offer their interpretation.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    21. Re:Probable Cause != Guilt by Dread_ed · · Score: 1

      Just remember that there would be much less of a problem securing fourth ammendment rights if the police had not found child pronography in his home, ie. the exact crime they were searching for.

      Chances are, if he had no child porn, but say had an unlicensed handgun, it would be a much more interesting case. Even then probable cause in this case seems cut and dried. Something illegal was sent from that IP. Police should be able to search it. The fact that it was an open WAP doesn't excuse him from investigation.

      It could, however, provide reasonable doubt. If child porn was not found in his home or resident on his computer he could probably get off due to the open WAP. However, it pretty much fucks your case when you have DVDs full of the shit in your bedroom.

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
  7. Please RTFA by empaler · · Score: 5, Informative

    The identity of the user was only questioned after the fact. They actually found kiddie porn in the IP address registree's room. I'd bet that he'd stand much stronger, legally if they hadn't, but he's trying to get the case thrown out of court because he'd set up an unsecured Wifi, which his lawyer argued made it unlikely enough that it was him that the police should have walked away...

    1. Re:Please RTFA by VWJedi · · Score: 1

      he's trying to get the case thrown out of court because he'd set up an unsecured Wifi, which his lawyer argued made it unlikely enough that it was him that the police should have walked away...

      From what I read in TFA, it doesn't look like the police knew he had an open WAP until after they got the search warrant. I don't think they should be required to check this first.

      Borrowing "the gun analogy" from a comment I just read... It's pretty clear that knowing the registered owner of a gun used in a crime is enough for a search warrant (even though it could have been used by someone else), so I would think that knowing the "registered owner" of an IP used to commit a crime would be similarly persuasive.

      The summary makes it sound like just having a WAP is probable cause. That's like saying that owning a gun would be probable cause every time anyone gets shot. TFA makes it clear that a defendant's claim that "anyone could have used it" is no more acceptable an argument for an IP than it is for a gun once the police have traced the IP / gun to it's "registered owner". It might, however, be a good argument for getting an acquittal if the search does not produce any additional evidence since the burden of proof is much higher for a conviction than for a search warrant.

    2. Re:Please RTFA by nahdude812 · · Score: 1

      Along the same gun analogy:

      The gun is the internet connection (the tool used to perpetrate the crime). An open wireless network is if you were in the habit of keeping your gun sitting in plain sight on a table next to an open window. So a crime was committed, they traced it back to your gun. This is probable cause to search your house for further evidence. This guy is claiming essentially that the fact that many people have access to his gun means that he shouldn't have been searched at all.

      If they had turned up no further evidence, then he could probably make a pretty compelling case. Just because he owns the gun doesn't mean he did the shooting. However, they found the defendant's blood on the clothes in his apartment. He claims that those clothes were his roommate's who used the defendant's gun to do the crime (in this claim, the accessibility of the gun by the open window is immaterial, all that matters is whether the roommate had access to the gun).

      I can't say, from what I know by reading the article, even assuming it is accurate, whether this guy is actually guilty of the crime. I would say there's reasonable doubt (which has nothing to do with the wireless network) unless they have his fingerprints on the CD's, and the CD's are also labeled (or if they found the pictures on his computer without him making a reasonable claim that the roommate frequently used his computer). In any event I would say that there is now probable cause to suspect the roommate, and the roommate deserves further investigation before the defendant is sentenced.

      The wireless network thing was only a bid for attention and has no real bearing on the case that I can see.

    3. Re:Please RTFA by VWJedi · · Score: 1

      I would say there's reasonable doubt (which has nothing to do with the wireless network) unless they have his fingerprints on the CD's, and the CD's are also labeled (or if they found the pictures on his computer without him making a reasonable claim that the roommate frequently used his computer).

      I believe the CD's were found in his room (which I would assume is his private space), so it's unlikely the roommate would put them there (unless he knew about the search and wanted to frame him). If the room is not locked, he could argue the roommate put them there, but it's up to the jury to decide if that's reasonable doubt.

      In any event I would say that there is now probable cause to suspect the roommate, and the roommate deserves further investigation before the defendant is sentenced.

      I would say that upon initial discovery that the roommate had access to the Internet through the same IP (via open WAP, secure WAP, wired network, whatever), the police would have probable cause for a search warrant of his room as well. The fact that they have not obtained a warrant yet is a huge oversight on their part. By now, the roommate has had plenty of time to get rid of any evidence of his illegal activities.

  8. Hard to say it was someone else... by linuxkrn · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you RTFA, it says they raided his place and found CDs of child porn. Now it also says he had a roommate and that the IM that got them in trouble was sent from his roommate's account. Which should have made them investigate him as well, but that's another story.

    Bottom line here is that there was evidence of child porn found locally at the address connected with that IP. So it's not really "using an Open WAP defense" as it would seem from summary. If they found nothing to collaborate the on-line transmissions at his address, then it would be more believable someone else could have done it.

    1. Re:Hard to say it was someone else... by hey! · · Score: 1

      It has to do with rules of evidence. He's not arguing that the stuff they found doesn't prove he's a perv. He's arguing that they obtained it illegally and therefore the evidence cannot be used to try him.

      The police just can't bash down your door and seize evidence that you posses contraband. They have to use legal methods to obtain evidence. That means either somebody with a right to do so allows them onto your property and permits the search, or they have a warrant issued under probable cause. Probable cause is evidence that would indicate to a reasonable person a crime had been committed, and that the search in question would turn up evidence relating to that crime.

      In this case, it sounds like the intercepted an IM sent over an open wi-fi.

      There are some very, very interesting implications here.

      The "Open WAP" argument is not a defense, it is a (very weak) grounds for excluding evidence. The argument is that the warrant was not valid, because nobody can prove who the communication came from. However, if my lawyer were giving me advice like this (which he would not), I'd fire him. You don't have to prove a crime has been committed by a person to show probable cause. Once they show that it's reasonably certain that a crime has been committed, and that it is reasonable to believe that a search of the premises is likely to turn up relevant information, they then have probable cause. Evidence for probable cause can be much weaker than evidence proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The whole point of a warrant is to make it possible to gather evidence of a crime as yet unprovable by that standard.

      The other implication here is somewhat more startling: that the intercept itself was legally proper. You have to have evidence to show probable cause, and that evidence has to be obtained by proper means. The grounds by which the intercept was ruled proper would be very interesting to know. Is it permissible to intercept your neighbor's wi-fi, or is that a special power the police are allowed? What if the wi-fi is encrypted and you have means to decrypt it? What happens when your neighbor beams his satellite TV shows over wi-fi?

      With respect to this person's roommate and neighbors, they may not have probable cause until they have evidence the roommate and neighbors use the access point. If the ISP account is in the accused name, it's quite certain that he at least is one user.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    2. Re:Hard to say it was someone else... by Hellkitten · · Score: 1

      The other implication here is somewhat more startling: that the intercept itself was legally proper.

      Nowhere in the article does it say that the IM was intercepted in any way. Given the resources it would take to monitor IM it's far more likely that this is the result of a complaint from the person that received the IM

      --
      - We are the slashdot. Resistance is futile. Prepare to be moderated -
    3. Re:Hard to say it was someone else... by bcattwoo · · Score: 1

      The other implication here is somewhat more startling: that the intercept itself was legally proper. You have to have evidence to show probable cause, and that evidence has to be obtained by proper means. The grounds by which the intercept was ruled proper would be very interesting to know. Is it permissible to intercept your neighbor's wi-fi, or is that a special power the police are allowed? What if the wi-fi is encrypted and you have means to decrypt it? What happens when your neighbor beams his satellite TV shows over wi-fi? What intercept? My interpretation of the story was that the woman the kiddie porn was IM'd to was not a fellow aficionado and reported the sender. Or perhaps she was and she was already under investigation. In any case, I don't see anything about sniffing his wi-fi traffic.
    4. Re:Hard to say it was someone else... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just to throw in my 2 cents. Even if he hadn't had an open access point it would have been the CDs and maybe his HD that would get him. Most DAs won't prosecute without that evidence. Remember that guy that got flown back from thailand (where he was in all likelyhood buying the services of underaged prostitutes) only to falsely confess to jon benet's murder? He had kiddie porn charges in Cali and got off because the prosecution actually lost his hard drive. Without physical evidence of his posession of the materials in question they wouldn't go to court. I've always wondered what they would do if someone had their whole /home /tmp etc on loopback mounted encrypted isos. Couldn't possibly make you give them the key, as you don't have to testify against yourself. I suspect that with all the identity theft and getting-caught-filesharing worries that a great number of people may move to encrypted filesystems. After all the transfers are already encrypted on a lot of filesharing traffic. That could really make things complicated.

  9. Probably cause by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    You have the write to remain soylent. Anything you do say can and will be used against you in a cart of law.

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  10. Probably 'cause by GodWasAnAlien · · Score: 4, Funny

    My grammar sucks probably 'cause I have open WAP.

    1. Re:Probably 'cause by Frankie70 · · Score: 4, Funny


      I have open WAP.


      Is it contagious?

    2. Re:Probably 'cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Is it contagious? I don't have any idea if WAP is contagious but something called GPL sure is.

      I'm told it is viral and will give you open sores.

    3. Re:Probably 'cause by nanosquid · · Score: 4, Funny

      Is it contagious?

      It's sexually transmitted (usually, F->M), so don't worry about it.

    4. Re:Probably 'cause by AragornSonOfArathorn · · Score: 4, Funny

      I have open WAP. Is it contagious? No, that's OpenCLAP.
      --
      sudo eat my shorts
    5. Re:Probably 'cause by Zencyde · · Score: 2, Funny

      The cure is to close it! Preferably with something clever. My personal WEP key is BABE15600DDECAFC0FFEE15BAD

      --
      What day is it? Could you please tell me?
    6. Re:Probably 'cause by kakalaky · · Score: 2, Funny

      Thanks for saving us the 30 seconds it would have taken to find the key.

    7. Re:Probably 'cause by Ubergrendle · · Score: 0

      "I'm told it is viral and will give you open source."

      Fixed your typo for you. :)

      --
      John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
    8. Re:Probably 'cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, that's OpenCLAP. Caused, I hear, by OpenLAP.
      Not a problem for the average Slashdotting "OpenFWAP" user, though.
    9. Re:Probably 'cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whooosh!

    10. Re:Probably 'cause by Sly+Raskal · · Score: 1

      rofl, whooosh is correct. they completely missed the joke.

      I found it hilarious!

    11. Re:Probably 'cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try open VD.
      If you did those acts in those images you have downloaded from those p0rn sites on a person that had been "used" many times you will get something contagious. Once you get that contagious disease when you pee you will be feeling like peeing hot lead.

  11. Probable Cause?!? by Rukie · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Thats like saying because you wanted to get a hand gun, your going to be a school shooter. There are TONS of open WAPs because people don't know better. It gives me the desire to go from home to home and do child porn searchs and FBI searches from all the homes to force this decision to get overturned. I mean come on.

    I don't know whether or not the guy was innocent/guilty but I do think that this "probable cause" thing is complete crap. If I see cops going down the streets with laptops I'll chase em away and sue the city! Mental anguish or something. (luckily, I don't live in texas ;))
    If they make openWAP's probable cause, then what about a coffee place where you get free wifi. Will the owner be held responsible for this customers actions? Will you be *REQUIRED* to get a permit for an open WAP. This is complete crap.

    --
    Support the source, Open Source! An entire site developed with OSS
    1. Re:Probable Cause?!? by giorgiofr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Will you be *REQUIRED* to get a permit for an open WAP That's exactly how it is over here in supposedly so-much-more-free-than-the-US Europe. Also you have to keep ID for every user of the system and be able to track them individually. Needless to say, this doesn't exactly spur adoption of wifi spots and the likes.
      --
      Global warming is a cube.
    2. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Uncle_Al · · Score: 4, Funny

      Since Europe is not the uniform entity some people seem to think it is, your statement does not hold much weight.

      I am in europe (germany) and have never heard of any such rules.

      Would you care to elaborate?

    3. Re:Probable Cause?!? by B'Trey · · Score: 5, Informative

      The headline is highly misleading. What the court ruled was that if an IP used in the commision of a crime, in this case child pornography, is traced back to you, then that's probable cause for the issuance of a warrant to search your house. The court did not rule that just having an open WAP was probable cause for anything, nor did they rule that an open WAP wasn't a possible defense against the charge if there is no other evidence. After obtaining the warrant, the police found CDs with child porn in the individual's bedroom. That's the evidence that convicted him. He tried to have the evidence thrown out, arguing that there was no probable cause to issue the warrant. The court disagreed. If you have an open WAP, someone else may use it to commit a crime. But the probablity that you did so is sufficient to issue a warrant to search for additional evidence. So it's more like saying that if you buy a gun and someone else uses it to shoot someone, the police are going to get a warrant and come search your house.

      --

      "The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others." Thomas Jefferson.

    4. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ditto for France and Denmark (both in Europe for the geographically challenged), there's no such nonsense in those two countries either.

    5. Re:Probable Cause?!? by giorgiofr · · Score: 5, Informative

      Sure thing. Check out the recently-approved Data Retention Laws. Link 1 Link 2. They are cursory introductions, you can dig further if you wish. The articles don't talk about wifi spots but they are regulated too: they have to keep a copy of ID for each customer and be able to track them individually, as I said. Anyway you are perfectly right in not just believing me, so check it out. You'll be appalled.

      --
      Global warming is a cube.
    6. Re:Probable Cause?!? by pubjames · · Score: 1

      I think your facts are wrong. Where in Europe are you talking about? This certainly doesn't apply to Spain. Indeed, here there is a company called "fon" which actually encourages it.

    7. Re:Probable Cause?!? by giorgiofr · · Score: 0

      Sorry man but the EU has spoken. Your country WILL obey. You wanted this idiotic mess of an EU, now deal with the consequences.

      --
      Global warming is a cube.
    8. Re:Probable Cause?!? by jedidiah · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Where's the personal responsibility around here?

      Sure it sucks that everything is crap and tends to lead to these sorts of problems. However, the fact still remains that people are allowing themselves to be potentially unwitting accomplices to all manner of nefarious activity. There should be a higher bar than "blissful willful ignorance".

      Idiocy & laziness shouldn't be an excuse.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    9. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm guessing the rules the person is referring to are the ISP data retention policies they created recently.
      They require keeping logs of all users, all emails sent etc for a couple of years.

      Sounds ok to me tho, I'd gladly trade that to be classed as an ISP.. The freedom to download whatever I want. If they want records I'll use the Intel/MS/WhiteHouse defence.. eh.. what emails/backups???

    10. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Alphager · · Score: 1

      That's exactly how it is over here in supposedly so-much-more-free-than-the-US Europe. Also you have to keep ID for every user of the system and be able to track them individually. Needless to say, this doesn't exactly spur adoption of wifi spots and the likes. That's pure and simple BULLSHIT. I have 3 open APs running; every fricking Starbucks got one around here, every McDonalds, etc. Your claim is BS.
    11. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Jussi+K.+Kojootti · · Score: 1
      What are you talking about? Fon knows about every connection and ties them to user ids, and they save the information, no doubt because otherwise the AP owner could be held responsible for any criminal activity...

    12. Re:Probable Cause?!? by giorgiofr · · Score: 1

      Yeah I know them, and in fact I was curious as to how they are getting around the data retention laws. I guess Spain has not harmonized its legislation with the EU directives yet.

      --
      Global warming is a cube.
    13. Re:Probable Cause?!? by giorgiofr · · Score: 1, Informative

      Well, taking your frustration out on me isn't going to make the data retention laws go away. Google them a bit, they aren't hard to find.

      --
      Global warming is a cube.
    14. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Jussi+K.+Kojootti · · Score: 1

      Bad writing day... I meant to say "no doubt partly because otherwise the AP owner could be held responsible for any criminal activity" (of course the business model requires them to save the info).

    15. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody except a few French politicians wanted EU. EU started as a trade union, and transformed into a huge undemocratic mess. If you think the people in the countries which are members of EU actually wanted this, you're gravely mistaken. However, once scammed into something this big, getting out again is pretty hard.

    16. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The rules may well be on the books none the less - they're on the books in Ireland for example, and basically no-one in Ireland has heard of them either. In Ireland, you are legally required (1988/2003 Data Protection acts) to register your access point with the (unashamedly evil and american puppet) government if you provide internet access to anyone else. This is presumably so that you've almost certainly automatically already broken the law (you filthy pro-freedom scum), if the powers that be want an excuse to shut you down for some political reason, not because they actually expect anyone to register.

      And of course, actually register and you'll only draw attention and suspicion, as anyone who is ultra-careful to abide by silly laws is obviously secretly planning some terrorist activity, so you'll match the profiling that secret service carries out...

    17. Re:Probable Cause?!? by TheVelvetFlamebait · · Score: 1

      I didn't expect anything different. This is going the way of any other scheme to try to share in a world geared towards personal ownership.

      --
      You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
    18. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Minwee · · Score: 1

      Reading the article is a wonderful thing. Since that's too hard for some people, let me do it for you.

      He didn't get raided because he had an open access point and that's certainly not why he was convicted. A search warrant was issued because _someone_ sent an instant message containing a "sexually explicit picture of a minor" from his IP address. After tracing that back to his home a search warrant was issued, and a stack of CDs full of similar images was found in his room.

      He tried to use his poorly configured wireless network as a defense, asking the judge to please ignore the several gigabytes of child porn that he had stashed in his room because he didn't think it was fair that the FBI found it so easily.

      The probable cause here was not that he had an open access point, it was that he used his own computer in his own home to break the law and he got caught doing it.

    19. Re:Probable Cause?!? by nanosquid · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's like complaining about the US Federal Government. Yeah, it may suck, but the alternative--50 independent nation states on the US continent--would suck even more.

    20. Re:Probable Cause?!? by theNetImp · · Score: 1

      what if they aren't a customer? I mean if they didn't buy anything from you, you have no obligation to keep records of them do you?

    21. Re:Probable Cause?!? by TheCarp · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Ahahah

      You know its so true.... I look at the EU and think gee... isn't that what our "Federal Government" was supposed to be? A strong alliance between independant states for mutual defense and betterment.

      Sadly, nobody bothered to look at how that worked out for us.

      The strong alliance has come to dominate the states. Its power has creeped ever so steadly, and now an entity that was once meant to govern interstate commerce and defend the boarders now interferes in peoples lives. The supreme court even ruled recently that it can meddle in your medical relationship with your doctor.

      Yes... thats exactly what interstate commerce and boarder defense was about. Good thing we struck down that 9th amendment eh?

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    22. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Alphager · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, taking your frustration out on me isn't going to make the data retention laws go away. Google them a bit, they aren't hard to find. As i am active in several anti-dataretention groups, i know the new rules pretty well. The dataretention-rules do not apply to private citizens. My APs are 100% legal.
    23. Re:Probable Cause?!? by pubjames · · Score: 1


      But that applies to ISPs, not individuals. As far as I am aware, there is no law that says you cannot have an open WiFi anywhere in Europe.

    24. Re:Probable Cause?!? by corbettw · · Score: 1

      But the probablity that you did so is sufficient to issue a warrant to search for additional evidence.

      Which makes sense. What's more likely, that some random person downloaded kiddie porn from your open WAP, or that you yourself used it? At the least, it's likely enough that you yourself downloaded it that the police should double check your computer(s) and such.

      So it's more like saying that if you buy a gun and someone else uses it to shoot someone, the police are going to get a warrant and come search your house.

      I think that's the most accurate analogy I've seen in this thread. Well put.

      --
      God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
    25. Re:Probable Cause?!? by 1u3hr · · Score: 1
      Thats like saying because you wanted to get a hand gun, your going to be a school shooter.

      You apparently didn't RTFA. I wouldn't mind so much, but in spite of that your post is modded "insightful"....

      Anyway, the "probable cause" was not in this case simply having an open WAP, it was living at the address associated with an IP used to send kiddie porn. Perhaps your analogy would be having bought the gun matching the bullets used in a crime. Not just any gun. In neither case is that evidence alone enough to convict, but it is enough to allow a warrant to search. In the case in TFA, this search found a pile of kiddie porn on CDROM. Even though it turns out the IP used belonged to a neighbour with an open WAP. As if the gun was found to have been borrowed from the acual owner, and the borrower was charged.

      The FBI can pretty much kick your door down and search on suspicion of being involved with kiddie porn, already, this is not a new power they're exercising. It's the attempted defense that's unusual.

    26. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Yer+Mum · · Score: 1

      Haven't heard anything in the UK or Spain either.

      And an open WAP is FON's business plan and they don't mention anything about keeping logs.

    27. Re:Probable Cause?!? by profplump · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not necessarily. You could limit the scope of federal power to prevent it from being a hassle while still letting you pool resources when it is beneficial. Now if only Lincoln and FDR, or anyone since then, had respected those limits.

    28. Re:Probable Cause?!? by AndersOSU · · Score: 3, Informative

      Didn't we try that once?

    29. Re:Probable Cause?!? by hazem · · Score: 3, Insightful

      However, the fact still remains that people are allowing themselves to be potentially unwitting accomplices to all manner of nefarious activity.

      Damn straight! And lets start with all those guys in yellow hats building and maintaining roads. Just think of all the illegal things that happen because of roads:

      people can transport drugs anywhere there's a road
      terrorists can move about freely
      child kidnappers can quickly take their victims somewhere else
      drunk drivers use roads to kill their victims
      people speed in their cars
      and worst of all, people talk on their cellphones while driving

      Roads must end! And we can start with those horrible people who build and maintain them. /sarcasm

      A lot of people intentionally open WAPs so others can access the internet. In my town, Portland, OR, there are groups actively encouraging this.

      If anything, this is a move by the police (state) to keep people afraid of being free. But that's what it's like in the land of the (not so) free and the home of the (not so) brave.

    30. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Reziac · · Score: 1

      But how do they define an ISP? Is anyone who provides access to others an "ISP" ?? I can see a court interpreting it that way.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    31. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      If you have an open WiFi running, aren't you technically an ISP?

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    32. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Informative

      You could limit the scope of federal power to prevent it from being a hassle while still letting you pool resources when it is beneficial.
      Really? That's something I could do?

      There is no limiting the scope of the federal government -- it's a juggernaut on a downhill rumble, and anything that gets in its way gets crushed (including so-called inalienable rights).

      The US government is so large that it has lost the trait of being a collection of individuals; it is a bureacracy that exists to grow, and to enrich those who control it. As such, as long as what some interested party on the government wants serves the purpose of increasing the extent or growing the scope of the government, they will get what they want. Our rights are suffering the death of a thousand papercuts, but as long as we have American Idol and the NFL, it is allowed to happen.

      Sorry for the rant. Wrt the specific issue of open WAP being considered probable cause, summary is quite a bit off. What is explained in TFA is that an open WAP is not enough to exclude probable cause that a crime has been committed at a location. That is, an open WAP doesn't sever the link between IP address and physical address (say, the street address provided by an ISP upon being served with a warrant). Because of this, the physical evidence (CDs of child porn) found at the location the warrant was served were judged to be admissible in court.

      So, this isn't really an example of federal government expanding its provenance. It's an example of government applying several-hundred-year-old principles to a modern crime. In this one case it appears my tinfoil-hattedness is inappropriate.
      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    33. Re:Probable Cause?!? by giorgiofr · · Score: 1

      every fricking Starbucks got one around here, every McDonalds Private citizens?! Ok, your APs might be 100% legal (actually I believe they are not but I am not sure), now what about every business out there who has to track this huge amount of data for no reason? You know, the people who actually matter. Your APs are of no interest, thousands of SMEs, on the other hand...
      --
      Global warming is a cube.
    34. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      So if I put a bunch of loaded guns in my house, unlocked and opened the door, and put a huge banner in my yard that said "FREE LOADED GUNS IN UNLOCKED HOUSE", I should be surprised (and not liable) when someone comes in and starts shooting them??

      If you want to have an open Wifi, you had better be ready to deal with the fact that- 1) People will abuse it 2) Ultimately you are responsible for what happens over your connection.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    35. Re:Probable Cause?!? by redog · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So if the police need a warrant to search a suspects house, and the suspect has an open wap, all they need to do is commit a crime or perhaps attempt to commit a crime from the wap to get the warrant to search the house?

      scary

    36. Re:Probable Cause?!? by julesh · · Score: 1

      Thats like saying because you wanted to get a hand gun, your going to be a school shooter. There are TONS of open WAPs because people don't know better. It gives me the desire to go from home to home and do child porn searchs and FBI searches from all the homes to force this decision to get overturned. I mean come on.

      It is, therefore, probably a good thing that this isn't what's being said at all. The story submitter misinterpreted the ruling. The article doesn't even suggest that this is the case. An open access wireless network is not going to be treated as probable cause. What is probable cause is illegal activity being traced to your IP address, whether or not you have an open network. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.

    37. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a FON router here in the US. For awhile they were giving them out for free so I ordered one. The way they work is they broadcast two SSID's - an internal one and a public one. To use the public one you have to have a FON account (free, you just fill out a form). You can also configure the public SSID as either a "Bill" or a "Linus". If it's Linus anyone with a FON account can login and use it, if you don't have a FON account you just fill out a form and automatically get one (no CC or anything required, just an email address). If it's a Bill they have to pay for it (I think it's $3 a day unless they already have credits in their FON account). I have mine as a Linus and allocated around 512k to it.

    38. Re:Probable Cause?!? by teh+kurisu · · Score: 1

      You mean like some sort of constitution?

    39. Re:Probable Cause?!? by pbhj · · Score: 1

      >>> If you have an open WiFi running, aren't you technically an ISP?

      No.

      If you walk down the street holding an opened packet of chips* (aka "fries") aren't you a fast-food outlet?

      [* you'd probably have to let folks have a chip if they asked you to ensure a reasonable parallel]

    40. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's pure and simple BULLSHIT. I have 3 open APs running; every fricking Starbucks got one around here, every McDonalds, etc. Your claim is BS.

      Last time I went to Starbucks the WAP was "open" in that it didn't run WEP, but you sure as hell couldn't get one the internet without paying and getting a password.

    41. Re:Probable Cause?!? by julesh · · Score: 1

      As i am active in several anti-dataretention groups, i know the new rules pretty well. The dataretention-rules do not apply to private citizens.

      On what grounds do you make this claim? Having just read the directive in question, I see nothing that restricts it from applying to a private citizen; it seems to apply to anyone who provides a "public access data communication service", which an open access point would appear to me to be.

    42. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      "If you walk down the street holding an opened packet of chips* (aka "fries") aren't you a fast-food outlet?"

      No, but if you were letting anyone who wanted to take some chips, you WOULD be a food provider.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    43. Re:Probable Cause?!? by thrillseeker · · Score: 1

      deal with the fact that- 1) People will abuse it 2) Ultimately you are responsible for what happens

      So we're each responsible for the irresponsibility of others now?

    44. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      I agree, and I live in Austin, TX and will go home and open my router right away. Bad IT infrastructure should NOT be an excuse for the government to run into your house and seize your materials, no matter how heinous the crime. Most of us on /. are smart enough to know how to protect ourselves, but I can easily see less technically savy people using commercially available products get framed for things because they don't understand their technology.

      There are 4 open wireless networks in range of my house, what are the odds that someone has a printer hooked up? How hard would it be for me to send kiddy porn on their network, and then print it out on their printer? Hell, if I had those inclinations, I could use the neighbors wifi for kiddie porn, right from the comfort of my own home. Risky sure, but if this is the level of police investigation in the matter, it seems like my neighbors would serve for me!

      The sad thing is, it wouldn't have been hard for them to establish this persons guilt without a doubt.

    45. Re:Probable Cause?!? by RockoTDF · · Score: 1

      When I submitted the article, my concern was not at all to do with the guy being convicted, but was concerned about the second part of the article where it does discuss the implications of using an open WAP. That is what the article suggests.

      --
      There is more to science than physics!

      www.iomalfunction.blogspot.com
    46. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you responsibly set up your Wifi so it isn't wide open, there isn't an issue to begin with. If you leave it open, then the irresponsibility of others IS passed along to you for allowing it. Open Wifi is asking for trouble, and there is only a limited need for it. Most open Wifi spots are due to laziness or ignorance. Can you please explain the pressing need to have open, unrestricted, unlogged Wifi??

      If you mounted a phone on the outside of your house and put a "FREE USE" sign over it, would you be pissed when you got the long distance bill??

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    47. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Asic+Eng · · Score: 1

      Well, the distinction should be pretty easy - if you have customers you are an ISP, if you don't you are not. So once you start charging other people to use your access point, then you have to obey the rules applying to ISPs.

    48. Re:Probable Cause?!? by hesiod · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > If you mounted a phone on the outside of your house and put a "FREE USE" sign over it, would you be pissed when you got the long distance bill??

      No, but I also don't expect to be jailed for threatening to kill the president because someone misused my generosity and decided to play a prank. If I didn't commit the crime, I shouldn't be held liable.

      Is the Wal-Mart employee liable because they enabled the transaction that led to a murderous maniac possessing a kitchen knife?

      Is the American public to blame because they elected a murderous maniac who... wait, bad example.

    49. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      You would be an accessory if you provided the phone. So no, not guilty of said offense, but guilty of not taking reasonable steps so it wouldn't happen.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    50. Re:Probable Cause?!? by hesiod · · Score: 1

      I'll start by admitting that this is probably a very stupid comparison, but I must make it anyway:

      Starting from a similar situation, can a phone company be considered an accessory because someone used the pay phone they provided on the side of a building?

    51. Re:Probable Cause?!? by profplump · · Score: 2, Informative

      We tried that again later, with the current constitution. It actually defines a lot of rights reserved specifically for the states and people. It's just that FDR and Lincoln (among others, but they're high on the list) decided they didn't like those limits, and popular support for breaking those limits prevented their enforcement.

    52. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Alphager · · Score: 1

      every fricking Starbucks got one around here, every McDonalds Private citizens?! Ok, your APs might be 100% legal (actually I believe they are not but I am not sure), now what about every business out there who has to track this huge amount of data for no reason? You know, the people who actually matter. Your APs are of no interest, thousands of SMEs, on the other hand... Companies are only rated as ISPs if
      they serve more than 1000 users
      AND are open to the general public

      I seriously doubt any SME is going to be affacted by this.
    53. Re:Probable Cause?!? by giorgiofr · · Score: 1

      No, I distinctly remember that offering internet access even in a small cafe means you have to comply with the directive; also, I know of a case when a person was asked for ID before he was given access, as required by said laws. But maybe you can point me to better documentation, seeing as you're involved? Thanks

      --
      Global warming is a cube.
    54. Re:Probable Cause?!? by profplump · · Score: 1

      Yeah. Like the one here in the US that limits the power of the federal government to regulate the states and the People. That is, until there's popular support for granting the government such power without changing the constitution, and then the legislature will just decide that the inter-state commerce clause covers any sort of legislation that's popular, regardless of the constitutional limits.

    55. Re:Probable Cause?!? by myowntrueself · · Score: 2, Insightful

      but the alternative--50 independent nation states on the US continent--would suck even more.

      Hey, not for the rest of the world!

      Break-up of the United States? Bring It On! :)

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    56. Re:Probable Cause?!? by URSpider · · Score: 1

      Thats like saying because you wanted to get a hand gun, your going to be a school shooter.

      No, it's more like saying that if a school shooting is committed using a gun registered to you, the police can get a warrant to search your house. Although you might not like it, detecting criminal packets emanating from your router provides the reasonable suspicion necessary to get a search warrant. Now, neither the gun registration nor the packets are enough to get you convicted, much less arrested. To continue your analogy above, if the gun is not in your house, and you reported it stolen to the police three months before, you're probably not the bad guy. But, if the cops find something else illegal in their search (in either case), especially something related to the crime at hand, THAT could definitely get you thrown in jail.

      Look at it this way: if you DO have a secured WAP, then proof of criminal access from that device could be considered prima facie evidence that you committed the crime. In this case, it merely makes you a suspect. And, in this case, that was enough to lead the police to the scene of a related, but different, crime. If the guy's computer had been clean and he hadn't had a big stack of kiddie porn sitting next to the CPU, then he would be a free man today, regardless of what his roommate did through his AP.

    57. Re:Probable Cause?!? by anothy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      this is fun.

      first, you provide two alternatives (current US government vs. 50 independent states) and implicitly assert that they are the only two available. this is false. historically, we've got the Articles of Confederation, of course, to illustrate an obviously distinct alternative, but then there's the fact that the current US government does not particularly resemble the government we had ~200 years ago. the most significant changes have been the results of amendments, but changes in judicial interpretation is also very important. some of these changes have been positive (yay for no more slavery! yay for women voting!), some are negative (what happened to all other powers falling to the states or the people?), and on several the jury's still out (like direct election of senators; much more complicated than it seems). the point is change happens, if only slowly, and that change represents another alternative (arguably the most viable).

      second, why are you assuming or asserting that having 50 independent countries would suck? there's nothing to prevent those countries from entering into treaties to, for example, allow unfettered travel between them or share a currency. this is much the same as the origin of the EU (another example of where the current incarnation does not reflect the initial formulation). personally, that actually sounds kinda good. decentralizing the power would likely have the effect of making us a bit less abusive of it, at least. several of our states have intact free-standing governments that predate the US. probably more than any industrialized country in the world, the US Federal government could just close up shop with a relative minimum of fuss and a short transition period.

      sounds kinda fun, actually; would certainly be an exciting change. Vermot's got its own succession movement; probably the largest in the country. there's a smaller but still noticeable one in Hawai'i, which makes sense (since we got the country in the first place through pretty bad means), a bunch of "the south will rise again!" yahoos down in the Confederacy, and a few not-really-significant ones in other places (like Manhattan). the trickiest legal issue is what the status of the reservations would be; they're already "odd", to say the least, but they sorta bypass the states and "report" directly into the federal government. maybe just stop futzing around with this "dual sovereignty" and "conquered nation" nonsense and make them independent? simplest, but not clear it's best (most would be friggin' tiny, for starters).

      oh, and there is no "US continent". ;-)

      --

      i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
    58. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 1

      and now an entity that was once meant to govern interstate commerce and defend the boarders now interferes in peoples lives
      Defend the boarders? I thought the Constitution specifically forbade billeting troops.

      Seriously, though, the Federal government was intended to do more than those two things (think international trade, patents, etc). Has it overstepped the restrictions placed on it? Yes. However, I'm not sure the US was intended to be a 'strong alliance' instead of a unification of states, to most of the framers... there's a notable difference.

      I agree that the US federal government is intrusive, and overwhelming in its reach. I wouldn't have so much of a problem with it, if there was honesty about it -- e.g., amend the Constitution to allow it. I'm sure the amendment would pass (given the amount of money and power at stake) but a system built on a lie has big problems.
      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    59. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Reziac · · Score: 1

      If you're in a restaurant, eating their food, you are their customer. If you then use their wifi hotspot, you're STILL their customer -- just of a different product, which was included with and paid for by your meal.

      I think it'll hinge more on whether some outfit is already a business, or is reselling any form of goods or services, than on the traditional definition of an ISP.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    60. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      but the alternative--50 independent nation states on the US continent--would suck even more.

      Why would they suck? The blue and red states could do whatever the heck they wanted without resentment towards each other. My Assemblywoman is a lot more responsive to me then my Congressman. Where's the problem?

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    61. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Alphager · · Score: 1

      The problem is that the rules are not equal in the whole of the EU. There exists a European directive, outlining minimum-requirements for data-retention in the EU(directive 2006/24/EG from 2006-03-16). Basically, it says which data has to be retained.
      The EU-directive is no law; every member-country has to pass laws which do what is outlined in the directive. The implementations of these laws vary _greatly_ from country to country. As the directive only outlines minimum requirements, some countries have really harsh retantion-laws, while others simply do the bare minimum.
      Could well be that in some countries, that ID-check has to be made; which country was it?

    62. Re:Probable Cause?!? by timmy+the+large · · Score: 1
      I definitly don't believe that an ip address is proof of wrong doing as **aa would like people to believe, but for once I find myself siding with the government. It does seem that if you have things going to your account, you may know something about it and it is enough for a warrant. Getting a warrant is not the same thing as finding someone guilty. While the government certainly has little credibility with many people right now( myself included), that is mostly due to not getting warrants in the first place and also the often questionable use of "no knock warrants".

      This is more like you had a gun registered in your name and it was used in the commision of a crime. This isn't proof you were involved, but there is a good chance that you may know something about it. The analogy you give is closer to getting a warrant for every person that connected through that isp. The ip address gave the police a starting point since it is likely that the person is involved.

      The system can never be perfect, some warrants will be issued against innocent people. We do need to be diligent that our government does not start handing out warrants at the drop of a hat, but if there is a reasonable case to be made that the person targeted by the warrant was involved in the crime then that's what warrants are for. The warrants that are worrying are the ones that the FBI gets after they raid a persons house or after they perform a sneak and peak operation. It is important that all warrants see the light of day. The only way to protect against abuses of the system is to have a transparent system.

    63. Re:Probable Cause?!? by arminw · · Score: 1

      .....Ultimately you are responsible for what happens over your connection....

      Complete and utter nonsense. I cannot understand how you or anyone of the so smart people here on /. can always compare physical things, such as guns and drugs and such with non-physical things like information. Radio waves are physical carriers of information, as are sound waves. When someone uses an open WAP they are not interested in the waves, but in the information these carry. Most of these users are not interested in YOUR information, but the information on the PUBLIC Internet.

      When someone likes and listens in the street to your loud music coming through the open windows, are you obligated to close all the windows or shut off the music player? After all, they STOPPED to listen.

      In the same way, radio waves go wherever they will and anyone can receive the information they carry if they want to. Use a wired network or wireless encryption if you don't want to keep the information that is on the radio waves accessible to others.

      If someone does use my WAP for nefarious purposes, it still wouldn't affect my computers and the things stored thereon, especially since they are turned off unless they are in active use. The powers that be could check them out and find nothing.

      --
      All theory is gray
    64. Re:Probable Cause?!? by ScrewMaster · · Score: 1

      Sales records and data retention for (ahem)security purposes aren't the same thing. Sure, you have to keep track of sales because, if nothing else, it's how you determine how much tax you pay. Keeping track of every user that drops in just because the government wants to be able to scroll through your logs and see what each user might have been doing is something entirely different.

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    65. Re:Probable Cause?!? by einhverfr · · Score: 1

      So if the police need a warrant to search a suspects house, and the suspect has an open wap, all they need to do is commit a crime or perhaps attempt to commit a crime from the wap to get the warrant to search the house?

      Sure, well, police can do that with your house in all number of other ways. At some point you have to look for a reasonable balance.

      Have a cordless phone? Maybe police could use that to phone out death threats. Maybe they could plant pot plants in your flower garden. Maybe they could.....

      I am not saying we should trust the police, but rather that we should look to find appropriate safeguards that both allow law enforcement to do their job and protecting our civil liberties. One of the reasons we require search warrants to be issued by the court is so that there is at least some degree of oversight. The oversight is more helpful in protecting us than anything else.

      --

      LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
    66. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 1

      That's irrelevant. What matters is black letter law.

      --
      "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
    67. Re:Probable Cause?!? by TheGeneration · · Score: 1

      I live in a nice neighborhood and I pay $1900/mo rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in a building with 5 other units, 4 of which are occupied by older people who have lived in their nice rent controlled apartments for 30+ years. The family that lives directly below me has three generations living in the same size apartment and probably pays $600/mo. The grandmother in that apartment is wheelchair bound, living on the second floor. Her daughter is in her 30's a responsible woman making just enough to pay the bills, she sleeps in the living room. Her son is 12 years old, a nice quiet kid. They recently got a computer but can't afford to pay for broadband internet. Probably 50% of my neighbors can't, but are able to live in this nice neighborhood because of rent control that they've lived under for 20, 30, sometimes 50 years. I don't know a lot of them though, so getting their info would be nearly impossible.

      For most of them though I would happily provide a free wifi spot. Just because they are poorer than me doesn't mean they shouldn't have the access to information that the rest of us have. With a commercial media that has failed, and lately seems to have just outright given up, on the mission of educating the public regarding our country's politics I feel it is indeed a PRESSING NEED for these people to get information from other sources which are not wholly owned by the robber barons of our time.

      --


      The Generation
      I'd say something witty here, but I'm not that bright.
    68. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      I agree completely. But that still doesn't explain the need to have your Wifi running wide open. Get their MAC addresses and add them to the allowed list, or use encryption and give them the keys. Or, have everyone chip in, buy a switch and wire up the entire building. Running a wide open Wifi is in no way necessary to help you to accomplish your stated goal.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    69. Re:Probable Cause?!? by GreyPoopon · · Score: 1

      There are TONS of open WAPs because people don't know better. It gives me the desire to go from home to home and do child porn searchs and FBI searches from all the homes to force this decision to get overturned. I mean come on.

      The summary was a gross misinterpretation of that the article actually meant. From the summary...

      In addition, it appears that an open WAP could be seen as probable cause by law enforcement.

      I had a totally different interpretation. My interpretation was that probable cause could not be mitigated through running an open access point. This is a totally different thing. What the judge was saying is that if they already have evidence (via your IP address) that you are doing something illegal, you can't say "Oh, my access point is totally open" and expect to escape submitting to search and possible seizure. The fact that they have tracked the activity to your IP address means that they have probable cause and can indeed search your residence, your computer, your car and you. The take home message here is that you should NOT run an open access point. If you do, somebody may take advantage of it to do something illegal, and you'll be put through a headache well beyond mere inconvenience until "the law" realizes you aren't guilty (assuming it doesn't find something else to convict you on).
      --

      GreyPoopon
      --
      Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?

    70. Re:Probable Cause?!? by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      Actually, it ruled that partially giving birth to a fetus/baby and then killing it was pretty much explicitly infanticide. Which is illegal already.

    71. Re:Probable Cause?!? by BVis · · Score: 1

      Yup.

      After all, we all pay the price. People wouldn't wear their seat belts, so now the law says that we have no choice. People insist on being fat lazy slobs, so everyone's insurance premiums go up. People don't understand that roads are for driving, not talking on your cell phone, so now there are laws against that too. People aren't responsible with their guns, so now we have mandatory trigger locks. Etc.

      I'm all for social Darwinism; however, the irresponsible frequently kill the innocent along with themselves.

      --
      Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
    72. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Omnifarious · · Score: 1

      We need a good tag for headlines like these. Maybe 'sensationalism' or 'misleading' or both. If they get tagged as being obviously bad often enough, maybe we'll see people stop trying to use this tactic to make their article seem more important than it is.

    73. Re:Probable Cause?!? by stuew · · Score: 1

      You would be an accessory... In colorado, being an accessory gets you the same jail time, including life without parole!

    74. Re:Probable Cause?!? by hedwards · · Score: 1

      It is a good ruling. There is no compelling reason why one would need to leave their own WAP open to whomever could connect. Adding even WEP is enough to keep out casual leachers and adding a better mechanism can keep many more people out.

      The argument against this being probable cause is somewhat weak in that we already in most areas have negligence rules, extending them to WAOs is really inevitable.

      If WAPs being open itself isn't being used as an excuse, it sure as hell gives one a compelling reason to do something before somebody does use it for nefarious purposes, such as cracking into websites or distributing illegal images.

      I don't think that it would have gone to trial if all they had had was an open WAP and a IM kiddie porn attachment. If he hadn't had the discs, the likelihood of a conviction would have been much lower.

    75. Re:Probable Cause?!? by paeanblack · · Score: 1

      Starting from a similar situation, can a phone company be considered an accessory because someone used the pay phone they provided on the side of a building?

      The phone company is a "common carrier". That basically means that because they are willing to jump through certain hoops, the public agrees to not hold them liable for the content of the information they carry. The downside for them is losing quite of bit of freedom and choice in providing their service.

      You, as an individual, are not a common carrier. You haven't taken the required steps to become one. You are not absolved of responsibility for the content of information traveling across networks you control.

    76. Re:Probable Cause?!? by hesiod · · Score: 1

      Doh. Forgot about CC. Knew there had to be a good explanation, hence the first sentence of my post :)

    77. Re:Probable Cause?!? by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      That's like complaining about the US Federal Government. Yeah, it may suck, but the alternative--50 independent nation states on the US continent--would suck even more.
      Especially for Hawaii.
      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    78. Re:Probable Cause?!? by budgenator · · Score: 1

      Nah, just have one cop or a disgruntaled neighbor phone in an anonymous tip and its enough for most stuff.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    79. Re:Probable Cause?!? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      the most significant changes have been the results of amendments

      Hmmm. Did you mean to say that the most significant changes have been the results of ignoring the amendments? I mean, really, going from one to ten in order finds only amendment 3 to be relatively unmolested (and all that says is they can't arbitrarily quarter soldiers in our homes.) Otherwise, I'd say that in the last fifty years, most of the amendments in the bill of rights have been used mainly for toilet paper.

      yay for no more slavery!

      Ah, no. The 13th amendment doesn't do away with slavery at all. What it does is reserves it as a right of the government. All you have to do is be convicted of a crime - any crime - jaywalked lately? - and you are eligible for whatever they want to put you to work doing. Read it and weep.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    80. Re:Probable Cause?!? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      Are you Irish? I only ask because I really want to read "you filthy pro-freedom scum" with a lovely Irish lilt to it.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    81. Re:Probable Cause?!? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      Can you please explain the pressing need to have open, unrestricted, unlogged Wifi??

      I sure can. So people can have open, unrestricted, unlogged, two-way transfer of information, without our burgeoning police state or anyone else second-guessing what they are doing. And by the way, I run an open, unrestricted, unlogged WiFi hotspot. It has its own DSL line, so it doesn't affect my own network at all. I do it as a courtesy to the community. Costs me $50/month. No big deal. ISP is cool with it, too. Any other questions I can help you with?

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    82. Re:Probable Cause?!? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      If I didn't commit the crime, I shouldn't be held liable.

      What the hell kind of thinking is that? What are you, some kind of old fogy? Goddamit, if we say you're guilty, you're guilty. It has nothing to do with "committing a crime." I've never heard such a ridiculous idea. As if. Sniff.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    83. Re:Probable Cause?!? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      Last time I went to Starbucks the WAP was "open" in that it didn't run WEP, but you sure as hell couldn't get one the internet without paying and getting a password.

      I was in a City Brew in Billings, Montana last Sunday, and they had a wide open network. So did the hotel I stayed in (the Cherry Tree Inn.) So do I (public, and intentionally so - I have my own, separate DSL connection.)

      This recent rush towards censorship and coercion of information transfer is really, really distressing. The last gasp of a formerly free country.

      I smell traitors.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    84. Re:Probable Cause?!? by SonicSpike · · Score: 1

      And this is why I will be voting Libertarian every chance I get!

      --
      Libertas in infinitum
    85. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      You could limit the scope of federal power ....

      Please familiarize yourself with the patriot act, recent emasculation of the of the FISA courts (not that 8 rejections out of 40K requests doesn't brand it as a rubberstamp anyway) and the current administration's theory of the unitary executive before making such an asinine assertion.

      Is it mere coincidence that the captcha for this posting is "screwed"?

    86. Re:Probable Cause?!? by anothy · · Score: 1

      Hmmm. Did you mean to say that the most significant changes have been the results of ignoring the amendments?
      no, i did not. no doubt, the tendency to ignore the law when it's inconvenient is at least as strong in government as it is in individuals, but i do mean that the most significant and long-lasting changes are the result of the amendments themselves. keep in mind that the first ten themselves were changes (if almost immediate ones).
      as for how intact 1-10 (or any others) are, that's a matter of interpretation. while there's been a concerted attack by the current administration (and less organized offenses pretty much since the constitution's inception), i think it's held up remarkably well over time. none of the current attacks are irreparable.

      Ah, no. The 13th amendment doesn't do away with slavery at all. What it does is reserves it as a right of the government.
      and this is why judicial interpretation is important. it's pretty unanimously agreed that it's involuntary servitude, not slavery, which can be prescribed as punishment for a crime. the 14th and 15th were equally important here (and then we got into the 16th, which was a definite turn for the worse). it's also not a case of "whatever they want to put you to work doing," as the protections of the 8th amendment still apply. the involuntary servitude represented by labor in prison is a very far cry from ownership of the person.
      --

      i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
    87. Re:Probable Cause?!? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      as the protections of the 8th amendment still apply.

      Eh? The protections of the 8th don't even apply to us! Excessive bail? All the time. Excessive fines? All the time. Can you pay a half million dollar fine for uttering a "curse word"? Cruel and unusual punishments - leaving aside the implicit approval of rape, mugging, stabbings, beatings, forced sexual slavery and the rest of what the government lets go on in prisons, today we can proudly add waterboarding, death threats, the very real specter or never getting out because you're never going to see a lawyer or get a phone call. And as for the 13th, parse it as written. Left side, slavery or involuntary servitude; right side, convicted for any crime. Chain gangs. License plates. Road cleaning. Right now, there's a proposal in congress to use prisoners to pick crops. Sound familiar?

      Your optimism astounds me. Truly.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    88. Re:Probable Cause?!? by rebmaster · · Score: 1

      > "a bunch of "the south will rise again!" yahoos down in the Confederacy"

      So... You do realize that the ideas you are espousing are basically the same as those people you derisively call "Confederate yahoos" - Right? We are talking primarily about States Rights here.

      Yo... Don't diss us Rebels 'cause we wuz right all along, homey! :)

    89. Re:Probable Cause?!? by nanosquid · · Score: 1

      You could limit the scope of federal power to prevent it from being a hassle while still letting you pool resources when it is beneficial.

      No, you couldn't, because control of the military and the ability to regulate interstate commerce are sufficient for the federal government to get essentially unlimited power. And the same is happening in Europe.

      But it isn't necessarily bad; 50 states, each with their own military and braindead politicians would be far worse. The US federal government may be wasting money like there is no tomorrow (across parties, one might add), but it beats dozens of little wars and trade restrictions any day. Just ask the Europeans, who used to live that way, until a nation ruled by rednecks called "Germany" demonstrated conclusively that that kind of political organization simply didn't work anymore once the world had discovered tanks and chemical weapons. Of course, the US already got an inkling of that with its own civil war, and those conflicts wouldn't have stopped even if the US had split in two (or three or four).

    90. Re:Probable Cause?!? by nanosquid · · Score: 1

      assert that they are the only two available. this is false. historically, we've got the Articles of Confederation, of course, to illustrate an obviously distinct alternative

      It's fine to talk about "alternatives", but those alternatives need to be stable in the real world. Obviously, none of the forms of government and balance of federal/state power that the US has tried before now were stable, because if they were stable, they'd still be around.

      And Europe is, in fact, trying one of those alternatives: independent nation states that got together voluntarily to cooperate in some areas. They don't, in fact, share the military yet. So, maybe Europe is using the "alternative" that the US failed to achieve. But, then, the US also tried state militias, and you know what happened to them.

      In the end, I think it's inevitable: if you give an organization authority to regulate commerce and to make common defense policy, that organization will end up controlling the member states, no matter what pieces of paper exist. That's clearly what happened in the US, and it's what seems to be happening in Europe.

      If you don't like it, you need to come up with more than wishful thinking.

    91. Re:Probable Cause?!? by nanosquid · · Score: 1

      Why would they suck?

      Because the Jesse Helms's in those states would declare war on the Bill Clinton's in those states. That's real war, as in guns and tanks, not US$150M state-sponsored pornography.

    92. Re:Probable Cause?!? by giorgiofr · · Score: 1

      It was Italy. It is very possible that the gov't here passed more draconian laws than necessary. According to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_da ta_retention, it did.

      --
      Global warming is a cube.
    93. Re:Probable Cause?!? by mcvos · · Score: 1

      the alternative--50 independent nation states on the US continent--would suck even more.

      I disagree. 50 independent nation states would probably be too busy with each other to invade nations in other parts of the world.

    94. Re:Probable Cause?!? by anothy · · Score: 1

      You do realize that the ideas you are espousing are basically the same as those people you derisively call "Confederate yahoos" - Right?
      um, some of them, sure. here, out with it: i think the Confederacy had the more correct stance on the relationship between State and Federal government, as prescribed by the Constitution, during the Civil War (although it's hard to say on the specific issue of secession, as it's not addressed in the text). and if the current secession or "new south" movements stopped there, i could support them ideologically. the reality, however, is that while "states rights" was the underlying political issue, what got things moving in the Civil War was the disgusting practice of slavery, and most of the current southern secession movements retain most of the more disturbing portions of the racial outlook. they basically seek to create a bunch of white christian States. that's what gets them my derision and makes them yahoos.
      --

      i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
    95. Re:Probable Cause?!? by anothy · · Score: 1

      what does "stable" mean? unchanging? for how long? the idea of "stable" political systems is a myth. the "balance" we've got now didn't exist a decade ago, and won't a decade from now (although, sadly, i can't predict which direction it'll go in).
      what government doesn't change over time? England's had (one of?) the longest continuously-running monarchies on the planet, yet the changes in the political system over that span are astounding. one of the most important features of the US Constitution is its ability to incorporate change. sure, the original Articles were replace by the Constitution, but that says nothing about the stability of the model. independent nations come up with treaties governing their relations all the time. this needn't be any different.

      i have a hard time imagining the EU gaining control of the member nations' military, but still: i think you're right in your implicit observation that power tends to consolidate. even without the military, that's been going on. and to a point, it's fine: that's exactly what governments are, people doing that on an individual level. but the price of liberty really is eternal vigilance - not against external threats, as that phrase is so often used, but against internal degeneration into tyranny. it's up to the people to ensure that such an inappropriate consolidation of power doesn't happen. it's not inevitable.
      granted, we've got a crummy track record.

      the EU model is very similar to the original US model, although reserving even more to the individual "states". while there are certainly implementation issues (the EU Constitution is... not lovely, and the whole organization's way too bureaucratic, and simply too large, i think), i have more hope for the EU's "stability" (really, resilience against the same sorts of degeneration that the US's try at that model went through) based on the fact that the member nations have a much stronger sense of national identity based on a long history of being nations.

      --

      i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
    96. Re:Probable Cause?!? by anothy · · Score: 1

      "parse it as written" doesn't help resolve the legitimate linguistic ambiguity. english does not provide tight binding of dependent clauses. is it (slavery and involuntary servitude), (except as punishment for crime) or slavery and (involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime)? thankfully, judicial interpretation is soundly with the later, and i'm willing to bet you can't find a 20th or 21st century federal judge (even the Bush guys, who don't, on the whole, care too much for the law) who wouldn't put slavery out of bounds as punishment under the 8th.

      i think you're underestimating the difference between slavery and involuntary servitude. slavery is ownership of people. laws around slavery are property laws. nothing before congress or any other body in the US replicates that. not even close.

      as for the rest, you seem to be confusing a claim that the Constitution has held up reasonably well and still serves as a set of guiding principles with a claim that there are not lots of problems with our current implementation. i'm not going to defend our prison system, let alone the run of "ooo, terrorists!" activities our current administration has undertaken, largely at great expense to the integrity of the Constitution and the rule of law generally. but none of that changes the point. those aberrations should be fought.

      also, i'm curious about this "half-million dollar fine for a curse word" claim. cite?

      --

      i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
    97. Re:Probable Cause?!? by hador_nyc · · Score: 1

      Your optimism astounds me. Truly.
      So am I surprised by your pessimism. For every bad thing you can show, I can show a good one. Ironically, I consider your very comments a positive. The more people like you bring up these evils here, reminding those of us like myself who tend to focus on the good things, the more we can all do something about them. Prohibition became an amendment and was repealed. So can any other stupid law. So, keep being negative loudly, and we'll fix it.
      --
      - Mike
      Once you've lost your temper, you've lost the argument - Me
    98. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      Exactly. If people aren't setting up their Wifi responsibly and not allowing unrestricted access, sooner or later the government will step in and try to regulate. Do we really want it to come to that? I would much rather that the people be a tad more responsible so laws do not need to be forced down our throats. I can see some circumstances that would warrant the use of unrestriced access. But there are far too many out there already than need to be.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    99. Re:Probable Cause?!? by TheGeneration · · Score: 1

      Anonymity is an American tradition. I disagree that we have to register in order to use the Internet. If I want to give away my broadband access to the masses for free, and anonymously, I should be able to do so. If the masses cause a problem I should also expect to have my ISP revoke my access.

      --


      The Generation
      I'd say something witty here, but I'm not that bright.
    100. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      Agreed. If you sign up for an ISP, you are in effect "registering". But if you have access, and then give others access by giving them the encryption keys, or adding their systems to the allow list, you are accomplishing the same thing, only less recklessly. None of the people you give access to need to "register" with anyone but you. Just think, if some idiot comes along and uses your connection for something stupid and gets it shut down (or starts hogging all the bandwidth unfairly), all those other people you were providing access for are shut down also. I am by no means trying to take away access from anybody, I am only suggesting that it be implemented wisely and not half-assed. If we lived in a utopian society where everyone was courteous and responsible, wide open unrestriced access would be ideal. Unfortunately we live in the real world where people constantly mess up other people's Good Things (TM). We need to take a realistic approcah over an idealistic one.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    101. Re:Probable Cause?!? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      "parse it as written" doesn't help resolve the legitimate linguistic ambiguity

      There is no "legitimate linguistic ambiguity." Here's the 13th:

      Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

      Now here it is again, but put in mundane terms so your mind won't try to confuse you, and you can stop trying to confuse everyone else:

      Neither jam nor jelly, except as a reward for chores the child shall have been confirmed to have completed, shall be applied to bread within this household, or at grandma's.

      You going to argue jam cannot be used as a reward? Of course not. It's plain English. Interpreting it any other way than the obvious way is the act of an illiterate, or a sophist.

      Now, it may well be that the current crop of puppet courts and their legions of tame shysters has decreed that the 13th doesn't mean what it clearly says. That's not a good thing, as we see with the inversion of the commerce clause. It ought to be interpreted as written, thrown the hell out, and replaced with whatever they think it means, if indeed society wants it to mean what they're trying to say it means.

      Right now, it means they own you. It means they can do anything they want with you, and by George, that's pretty much how they behave, so again, whatever the shysters are saying is pretty bloody irrelevant in fact as well.

      Name me one thing you can do with property that the government can't do with a convicted criminal in prison. They can kill you, or have you killed, that is, dispose of you, that happens all the time. They can move you from here to there, essentially handing you off to another slaveholder or institution full of them, and they can make such moves based on monetary gain. They can trade your warm body for another. They can release you early, if you behave. They can make you do any task, either directly, or indirectly by taking privileges from your fellow inmates, who will force you to comply. They can beat you or have you beaten. They completely control your meals, your medical care (or lack of it) your communications, your ability to see your family, your sex life, they eliminate your political self entirely, you are forced to live in horrible conditions, which can be made more horrible at any time at their whim, they control your reading materials and are just as likely to fill your hovel with propaganda such as religious tripe as they are not. They can keep you beyond your sentence. Forever, if they so decide. They can (and do) take away your children. They can put you on a public list of those to watch out for. They can ensure you're deprived of the right to carry arms. They can see to it that you are mutilated. They can, and do, take your property. They've even taken the trouble to make sure that some people cannot ever find a home, even if they were released. Whipping? Sure, you can be whipped. You can be beaten to death, or all manner of other mistreatments that don't quite get you there. Your life isn't worth a plugged nickel to them. Is your hang-up with the fact that it doesn't matter what color your skin is? I assure you, that's no factor in slavery. Finally, as to treatment in general, there were many slaves in the South who were treated better overall as compared to our prisoners, and very few who were treated worse.

      also, i'm curious about this "half-million dollar fine for a curse word" claim. cite?

      Here's one for $357,500.00, here's the legislation for the $500,000 fines, already through the house, the senate is next ...and you should read

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    102. Re:Probable Cause?!? by ewanm89 · · Score: 1

      Why I'm voting UKIP!

    103. Re:Probable Cause?!? by TheGeneration · · Score: 1

      I think you are correct in many ways.

      I also feel that there is a principle at stake here beyond smart implementations. What if a whistle blower is driving around Washington DC right now with proof of Presidential wrong doing. This whistle blower is looking for a wide open WiFi spot where he can anonymously set up a yahoo account and email his info to the Washington Post, or FoxNews, or NBC?

      It's a bit contrived, but not at all improbable. You can send anything you want anonymously through the US Postal System, why should the Internet be any different? Should the US Postal System have exclusive domain over anonymous communication?

      --


      The Generation
      I'd say something witty here, but I'm not that bright.
    104. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      "You can send anything you want anonymously through the US Postal System, why should the Internet be any different?"

      Well, not completly anonymous. They can track the zipcode it was sent from. And I am willing to bet if you mail illegal or threatening things (at least from an urban area) they could track it down even further.
      The biggest difference is that every single piece of standard mail sent costs you 39 cents . Once you have access to the internet, you can send billions of messages with no additional cost. So if someone want to be an annoying crackpot through the USPS, they will need to be a millionaire. On the internet any jackass can annoy millions of people for very little cost. (As we all know firsthand) So in short, you are paying for the privilege to be more anonymous by using postal mail. (Yes, I know this is Slashdot and all goods/services/information should be free, blah blah Open Source etc.)

      I know the example you gave was far fetched, but why would the whistleblower need to email?? Why couldn't he just print it out in a private location, then use the good old anonymous USPS?? That would leave much less of a trail than electronically. Also note that I am not saying there should be ZERO open Wifi access points, just that EVERY Wifi doesn't need to be set up like that.

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    105. Re:Probable Cause?!? by anothy · · Score: 1

      You going to argue jam cannot be used as a reward? Of course not. It's plain English. Interpreting it any other way than the obvious way is the act of an illiterate, or a sophist.
      you're being dense; i can't tell whether it's intentional. this is basic linguistics. of course the ambiguity exists. in colloquial speech, we have conventional resolutions, but those don't apply in formal contexts like specifications or law. look at this other sentence with identical construction:

      neither flowers nor doughnuts, except the glazed kind, shall be placed on my desk, or my chair.
      it's clear, in that context, that "the glazed kind" refers to the doughnuts; interpreting it to say otherwise would be the act of an illiterate or a sophist. but the construction is exactly the same as the example you gave. the point here is that the construction, on its own, is ambiguous.
      (just to confirm i'm not crazy, i confirmed this with a PhD linguist friend of mine. yup, i'm not crazy. he agrees that, from a strictly linguistic standpoint, the binding is ambiguous and those three example constructions are identical)

      given the ambiguity, we look to other related sources to resolve it. the 8th amendment is relevant here; i find it impossible to believe any judge in the country wouldn't find slavery to be cruel and unusual punishment. the entire integrity of our legal system does not hang on the linguistic construction of one clause. nobody owns anybody in the US. this is clear. it's a decided issue in the legislature and the courts. read FindLaw's commentary on the 13th amendment (which i just found out about today) for some relevant judicial citations, if you're actually interested. but i suspect you're not. you're being dishonest with the law and various interpretations of language to try to give yourself a talking point. it doesn't exist. call me when the US can sell prisoners to private individuals. then we're talking property.

      as for your supposed half-million dollar fines. note, first, that these are not against individuals, but against companies, and ones with vastly superior resources. note further that the second link you've posted calls out the fact that the bill is abandoned. of course, i'm not defending this practice at all: i think the FCC is overstepping its bounds significantly here. but there's nothing here that qualifies as a violation of the 8th amendment by any stretch of the imagination.
      --

      i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
    106. Re:Probable Cause?!? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      I'm not being dense, intentionally or otherwise. I'm simply pointing out that you're making up nonsense. I can take your inapplicable example apart for you in seconds, and I will:

      Your donut example uses a second clause where the details can only be applied to the donut; glazing a flower is nonsensical. So it obviously applies to just the one part of the first clause.

      The 13th, in sharp contrast, uses a second clause where the punishment could just as easily be either of the slavery or servitude portions; and, BTW, the same as my example, where the jam or jelly could be applied to the bread.

      In other words, my restating precisely and definitely matches the 13th; yours definitely does not. One would not use your example as a means to do comparative analysis on the 13th, because one would be led down the wrong cognitive path. But using mine is fine, because I carefully crafted it to use the same construction and the same levels of applicability -- it reads just as the 13th does with regard to applicability and lack of ambiguity.

      To be even more specific, "jam nor jelly" is linguistically comparable to "slavery nor involuntary servitude" in that it is two items from the same general domain, of the same general concept, certainly within the same class, such that they are likely to be addressed as one in the same clause. "flowers nor doughnuts" are disjoint, not even members of the same general classes, much less having any more sophisticated similarities. So when the second clause refers to the first, your inappropriate example has disjoint class membership to direct the understanding at hand, specifically as glazing applies to doughnuts only; but neither "slavery nor involuntary servitude" or my "jam nor jelly" do this, and hence there is no demonstrable separation for the second clause to be parsed as to applying to one, and not the other.

      given the ambiguity... with identical construction...

      The only ambiguity you've demonstrated is in your example, which does not correspond to the 13th. No ambiguity has been demonstrated at this point. That's a fact. Further, your example is a great deal further from "identical construction" than mine is. You're attempting to twist the situation to meet your needs, and that's not going to fly.

      call me when the US can sell prisoners to private individuals. then we're talking property.

      Private prisons receive prisoners for money all of the time. You're not paying attention.

      as for your supposed half-million dollar fines. note, first, that these are not against individuals, but against companies,

      Look. I know you're smarter than this, even with that really superficial and incorrectly assembled doughnut example staring me in the face. When you fine a company, you are fining an individual. That's the whole point of a company; it is a legal entity. If you take half a million dollars as a fine for saying a word, I don't care if you apply the fine to a blinking convent, the fine is unreasonable. It is way, way, way out of line. The FCC has imposed up to a million dollars in fines for single incidents, and if you don't think that's excessive, you're too cognitively impaired to even bother talking to. Don't even start with any nonsense about corporations. There are people at those corporations, stockholders and employees and we're talking about words, nipples, and the like. You assume they can pay a million bucks just because they're incorporated? Then you're stupid. The FCC is imposing ridiculous fines, and that is end of the story.

      note further that the second link you've posted calls out the fact that the bill is abandoned.

      Still, million dollars fines are being levied. The point is, that is the situation right now, the status quo. Censorship (violation of the 1st) being used to drive a violation of the 8th. Government at its worst.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    107. Re:Probable Cause?!? by anothy · · Score: 1

      you've got an inappropriately binary sense of ambiguity. i will grant (since it's obvious) that jam and jelly are more similar than flowers and doughnuts; further, it's certainly true that this difference is important for resolving the linguistic ambiguity. but the point is that the construction, syntacticly, is in fact ambiguous. the 13th amendment uses the same syntactic construction; there is no syntactic difference. the difference is semantics; that is, the difference is dependent on the meaning of the individual terms. in the jam/jelly case, the fact that the terms are so similar in meaning as to be nearly interchangeable leads us to believe that the interjected clause refers to the entire preceding clause (although we could still be wrong; perhaps one is afraid of the seeds in jam and jelly, while similar enough to be disturbing, can sometimes be allowed.); in the flower/doughnut case, the terms are different enough that we don't assume that, and the meaning of the interjected clause inclines us to assume it refers only to the doughnuts (although, again, we could easily be wrong; perhaps i really enjoy frosted flowers? you've discounted them summarily. if i work in a confectionary, it's entirely plausible). in the case of the 13th amendment, the two objects are in the same class of thing, yes, but clearly much more different than jam and jelly. the ambiguity exists.
      and before you start, of course the counter-example i've provided parenthetically are far-fetched and constructed artificially. and, without the context, the more conventional assumptions are entirely valid. i would need to know some specific context to believe that jam is uniformly prohibited or that flowers are sometimes allowed. but that's the point: we resolve the linguistic ambiguity by using context from the rest of our knowledge.

      and, again, i'm not making this up. there's extensive judicial precedent on this. if the ambiguity did not exist, the courts wouldn't be spending time clarifying it. can you point me at any legal (or linguistic) authority or text (other than yourself, of course) which argues otherwise?

      and that ambiguity is not a problem for the law, either, because laws do not exist in a vacuum. the 13th amendment depends on the body of the constitution, including the 8th amendment, to give it context. and given that enslavement as punishment for crime runs pretty far afoul of any reasonable definition of "cruel and unusual punishment" - including, importantly, those found in law and judicial precedent! - it stands to reason that the correct resolution to the existing syntactic ambiguity is to bind the interjected clause to involuntary servitude, not the first clause.

      the rest of your arguments are just uninteresting. the FCC's fines on broadcasting companies don't come close to cruel and unusual punishment, and the privatization of our prison system (while grotesque, in my opinion) doesn't equate in any logical way to buying and selling of prisoners or to evidence of institutionalized slavery. you've clearly got some sort of strange emotional attachment to the issue, and i hold out no hope of convincing you of the truth of what should be an obvious distinction.

      --

      i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
    108. Re:Probable Cause?!? by pbhj · · Score: 1

      So you think this person (offering chips) should be prosecuted with failing to adhere to health and safety laws and failing to have a license for street trading (etc.)?

    109. Re:Probable Cause?!? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      can you point me at any legal (or linguistic) authority or text (other than yourself, of course) which argues otherwise?

      The problem is - as I have been saying all along - that people are trying to "interpret" the constitution, not (a little of the 1st, the 13th and the 16th amendments excepted) that the plain English of the constitution is flawed. But, you want to talk about interpretations? Fine. Here we go:

      They say that authorization for regulating interstate commerce enables Intra state commerce. Court interpretation, turns plain English right on its head - (article 1, section 8.)

      Ex post facto laws are forbidden (article 1, sections 9 (fed) and 10 (state)) but yet, the courts manage to "interpret" that we should be (and are) making them. Especially with regard to members of the current scare group - terrorists, save the children, etc. Those supreme court precedents set the bar so low, that a microbe couldn't get underneath it. So when they decide to change your sentence penalties post conviction - even years post conviction - you just shut right up. Think of the children, after all, you insensitive clod (slashdot humor, not meant to be offensive. I admit it is black humor in this case, but still, humor.)

      Suspension of habeas corpus (article 1, section 9) is a no-no except under very specific circumstances (which do not obtain) and bingo, we have it anyway. Go ahead... try to tell me this is only for enemy combatants. Oh yeah... and that nasty little clause that says "or while awaiting such determination." Oooops! Our bad. But of course, since the same legislation says that the USSC has no jurisdiction, and the courts have already said they're OK with that... too bad for you, sucker. This one alone pretty much sweeps aside the entire bill of rights.

      So. States are forbidden to tax purchases made elsewhere (article 1, section 10), and so the courts have "interpreted" that "use taxes" are... OK. It's not a tax! It's just... a tax. So don't worry about it. Next case!

      Changes can be made (section 2, article 5) if the government feels those changes are worthwhile; but instead the very "authority" you cite legislates, effectively, anyway, from the bench. By inventing "interpretations" replacing plain English readings.

      Speech is to be absolutely unrestricted (1st, 14th amendments) and yet, the courts have "interpreted" that oh no, what this means is that you can speak sometimes. In certain places. And you might need a permit for that, anyway. Idiots.

      No laws favoring the establishment of religions (1st, 14th amendments) and what do we have? We have a situation where I am forced to pay the tax share for religions. This part of the 1st was always way too weak, but we can't even do what it says. And we mustn't forget places like Texas, which outright forbid atheists to serve in political positions. I mean, not that we really want to be involved in something so corrupt, so despicable, so in violation of the trust of the country... that only a religious person would want to go there... but even so, religion's establishment is surely favored if only the religious can serve. Oh well. It's law!

      No restrictions on the press (1st, 14th amendments) well, except of course jailing those who stand on those rights. Oh, and censoring what they say on the radio. As well as what they cover, mind you. And what questions they can ask. Other than that... why, none!

      No restriction on peaceable assembly (1st, 14th amendments) except of course, for the restrictions. Like permits. Distance from a funeral or a political gathering. You know. Just... restrictions.

      No restrictions on keeping arms (2nd, 14th amendments) except for, well, in a lot of cases they won't let us keep them. I mean really, just that. And of course, whereas "by weapons" it was completely understood you could own an armed frigate, cannons, guns and swords, today there's a restriction we can s

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    110. Re:Probable Cause?!? by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
      So, keep being negative loudly, and we'll fix it.

      Here you go. Now fix it.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    111. Re:Probable Cause?!? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      No. It would depend on the volume you are distributing. But if it were say, a bad batch of chips and made people sick or die, then the person offering the chips would be at least partly liable.

      To put the shoe on the other foot, do you think anyone should be able to prepare and sell/give away food without having to follow any sort of health and safety laws? How long do you think before people started dropping like flies?

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    112. Re:Probable Cause?!? by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      And yet, I neither disagree, nor think that the government has any standing to involve itself in the matter.

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    113. Re:Probable Cause?!? by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      Are you familiar with the Harrison Narcotics Act (1914)

      or perhaps the Marihauna Tax Act (1937) or, the coup de grace. The Controlled Substances Act

      Ok all drug laws. All aimed at reducing recreational abuse of drugs. We can debate the social utility of this sort of measure. We can debate their overall efficacy, etc. The reason I bring them up is... notice the change over all these years.

      Up through the late 1930s, the method of enacting this policy was by the imposition of taxes. By 1970, we are actually using federal law to make actions which can happen entirely within the bounds of a state, between legal adults, a violation of federal law.

      If this isn't a severe encroachment, I don't know what is.

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    114. Re:Probable Cause?!? by profplump · · Score: 1

      No, you couldn't, because control of the military and the ability to regulate interstate commerce are sufficient for the federal government to get essentially unlimited power. And the same is happening in Europe.

      It's only sufficient because we decided to let "regulate interstate commerce" mean whatever the then-current federal government decided it meant. There's no reason to believe that power necessarily extends beyond enforcing open borders and prohibiting interstate tarriffs and the like. I'm reasonably confident that it also take popular support to expand the meaning of "regulate interstate commerce", but I'm willing to admit that you can sell most people almost anything with the right marketing, so popular support isn't an overwhelming hurdle.

      But I stand by my original point: The specific powers granted to the federal government are not the problem, popular support of expanding federal government is the problem. If the people and the courts are willing to look the other way, no restrictions on power will prevent the growth of the government.

    115. Re:Probable Cause?!? by rebmaster · · Score: 1

      Thank you for your reasoned reply, but I have to disagree. For starters, you made the all too common mistake of citing slavery as the cause of the war.

      As usual, the war was about power and money - the same as the motivation for most all modern wars. Slavery was a minor issue compared to power and money.

      I understand why you would think that civil war was the primary cause of the war, as that is the myth that U.S. public schools students are indoctrinated to believe, but if you do ANY independent research (ignoring the liberal-approved textbooks) - you'll discover that this just isn't true. (Remember, official historical textbooks are written by the victors in a war.) It doesn't take much effort to find the truth, but the causes of the "War of the Rebellion" (the official Yankee name of the war) are worth researching. Because when you do, you uncover the basis of where everything went wrong in U.S. government, and why we find ourselves in this mess today.

      As for as the likelihood of somehow the southern Confederate states reverting back into either slavery (impossible) or even some sort of separatist/apartheid mess, do you really, REALLY believe that can happen today? Sure, there are still plenty of bigots around (of all colours, and not just in the South). But something like that would NEVER be allowed to happen. There are far too many militant civil rights activists and organizations nowadays that would raise 100 different kinds of hell if Whitey every tried anything like that.

      Besides, in case you haven't noticed, the white folks are the #1 most cowed and complacent herd of sheep that exist in the world today. A few hardcore bigots and "yahoos" (as you say) aren't gonna motivate the rest of the herd to do anything that extreme.

      The fact is, that the U.S. Empire is destined to collapse. All empires fail eventually. And all the signs are pointing to an imminent collapse within this generation. We might as well start planning for it now. Many scholars have predicted that the U.S. will eventually break up into several regions, and it is likely that the southern states will band together again, even though Southerners have been largely "Yankeeized" nowadays anyway. It won't be a return to the romantic "Gone with the Wind" version of the old South that some hope for - far from it. But it will happen, eventually. And everyone will be better off when it does.

  12. Open WAP != No Probable Cause by ivan256 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It looks like the argument was that since this guy (who was actually guilty but was trying to have evidence suppressed) had an open access point, the cops had no probable cause to search, since it could have been anybody using his connection.

    The article, and the summary falsely conclude that having an open access point gives the authorities probable cause to search your premises and systems. In reality, what this means is that having an open access point doesn't mean the cops can't search, since "it remain[s] likely that the source of the transmissions [is] inside that residence".

    1. Re:Open WAP != No Probable Cause by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      ...which is a problem since you can end up accessing the wrong open WAP without really trying. Start out with a
      neighborhood or apartment complex with multiple unsecured WAPs and you're quickly into a situation where you can't assume a bloody thing. That's rather the point of wireless. You're relatively freed of particular physical limitations.

      OTOH, an unsecured WAP should trash probable cause. OTOH, an unsecured WAP should get the owner b*tch slapped.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    2. Re:Open WAP != No Probable Cause by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      I actually agree with the court here. It's not unreasonable to do a search. If you're actually innocent the search won't turn anything up.

      If your infrastructure was used to commit a crime, it is perfectly reasonable to search said infrastructure. Even if you didn't do it, the search could turn up information (logs, MACs, whatever) that leads to the real culprit.

      I also disagree that running an open access point should get the owner "b*tch slapped". There's nothing wrong with running an open access point if you are aware of the potential dangers and accept the risk.

    3. Re:Open WAP != No Probable Cause by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      if you are aware of the potential dangers and accept the risk."

      Like getting bitchslapped?

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
  13. No suprise here by Todd+Knarr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm not surprised. I'm sure one of the things the court considered is that someone who knows enough about wireless to raise the "open access point" defense also knows enough to know the risks of an open WAP and to do something about it if only to protect themselves from exactly this sort of problem. And with the amount of publicity, even the average Joe by this point knows the risks of open WAPs. So I'm not surprised the judge essentially said "You knew it was open, you knew what the risks were, you didn't do anything about them. You're responsible for it.". Can you say "attractive nuisance"? Similar deal with probable cause, if the abuse of open WAPs is wide-spread enough for defendant's argument to be even someone probable then it's wide-spread enough that police can treat open WAPs as a known problem.

    And of course, if someone were using the WAP then the CDs wouldn't have been in his room. He might be able to make the argument that, given the IM name especially, the CDs belong to his roommate, but it looks like his attempt to get fancy scuttled that option.

    1. Re:No suprise here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First off, some of enjoy getting free wireless and realize that somehow sharing our own contributes to that (When someone does me a favor I pay it forward and so on.

      Second you try to defend him? He needs to learn what sexual predator means, you're not the one to teach him...

      That would be Big Steve.

    2. Re:No suprise here by computational+super · · Score: 1
      someone who knows enough about wireless to raise the "open access point" defense also knows enough to know the risks of an open WAP and to do something about it

      No, they're not the ones raising the defense - their lawyers are (which is as it should be).

      --
      Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
    3. Re:No suprise here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I'm sure one of the things the court considered is that someone who knows enough about wireless to raise the "open access point" defense also knows enough to know the risks of an open WAP and to do something about it if only to protect themselves from exactly this sort of problem"

      Guilty till proven innocent? Nonsense. There is no way any court should find "well you've got good advisors who've found a defence that's wrecked the prosecution case, therefore you must be an evil mastermind in the first place - guilty!"

    4. Re:No suprise here by Fastolfe · · Score: 1

      Except none of that applies in this case.

      The judge wasn't saying "you should have known the risks." He was saying "that's no reason for the cops not to search your apartment." This "defense" had nothing to do with the CDs, but the legality of the search warrant used to find them.

      We are not yet at the point in the US where a "reasonable person", beyond reasonable doubt, understands the risks and assumes criminal liability for the acts of other people using their open access point. Usually laws like that are written with verbiage like "..knows or consciously avoids knowing.." Remember that crimes in the US require the prosecution to prove criminal intent. Your attractive nuisance theory is more meaningful in the context of a civil suit.

    5. Re:No suprise here by Asic+Eng · · Score: 1
      someone who knows enough about wireless to raise the "open access point" defense also knows enough to know the risks of an open WAP

      I don't think that conclusion is valid. In this case the guy was obviously guilty, so yes likely he left the WAP open on purpose. However for the general case it's certainly reasonable to allow that someone accussed of a crime in connection with a WAP, starts to learn about WAPs at the very time when he's being accussed. Wouldn't you do that, in the hypothetical case that you were innocently accussed and didn't know about WAPs already?

    6. Re:No suprise here by einhverfr · · Score: 1

      IANAL, but many jurisdictions do have misdemeanor procedures for nuisance laws. I suppose that if I let people come over when I am not at home and play loud music at midnight, I might be held responsible for that. It would probably be a $500 fine and an injunction.....

      But the difference is quite different when we are talking about felonies. Imagine if a guy goes to work before his wife wakes up and doesn't lock the door. Someone else enters the house and murders his wife. The theory the GP makes would suggest that the guy by failing to lock his door would have been guilty of murder which seems plain wrong.

      Or better yet, if someone leaves the house (not locking the door) and while he is gone, someone brings a third party into the house and commits murder. Then the police arguing that by neglecting to lock his house, the guy is guilty of the murder of the stranger he has never met.

      I certainly hope there are no countries with this sort of legal tradition (if there are, I think I will have to avoid them).

      --

      LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
    7. Re:No suprise here by Todd+Knarr · · Score: 1

      Not quite. The "attractive nuisance" thing comes from, for example, someone putting in a deep swimming pool and leaving it unfenced and unattended when their neighborhood's full of young children. The pool owner knows the children are there, and that it's dangerous for them to be playing around the pool with no adults there. He knows that without the fence they will get into the pool. So a fence to keep them out would be a reasonable precaution. By not putting one in, he's opening himself up to liability including possible negligent homocide (not murder) charges if the DA decides to push it.

      The difference between that and leaving your door unlocked is a bit subtle, but basically it's that the law isn't going to put responsibility on you for someone else breaking into your house. The door, even unlocked, represents enough of a barrier that an ordinary law-abiding person wouldn't be expected to be inside without permission. In the case of a WAP, the distinction would probably be between a completely open one and one where any sort of authentication was enabled (even the rather feeble WEP).

    8. Re:No suprise here by einhverfr · · Score: 1

      IANAL, but the argument you make about the open WAP has less to do with the open swimming pool hazard and more to do with the idea that one is responsible for someone else's illegal activities due simply to failure to secure one's property. This is not like being guilty of neglegent homicide for leaving an open swimming pool where someone accidently drowned. It would be like being guilty of some form of homicide because someone was murdered (intentionally drowned) in your open swimming pool by someone else. In essence the difference is that a crime is being committed by a third party who has criminal intent.

      With WEP, we have computer trespassing laws, making it illegal to access other peoples' networks. The access need not be local. An open or unlocked door would seem to me to be the best analogy to an open WAP.

      Of course this is all entirely hypothetical as far as I can see.

      --

      LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
  14. They found kid porn on a CD in his room by ohearn · · Score: 1, Informative

    TFA states that they found a CD with child porn on it in his room and that was the only room searched. Even if he got off the hook on the image sent across Yhaoo IM he was toast. I'm just suprised the DA didn't try to use the guy's attempted defense of a roommate and an open WAP to get a warrant to search the roommate's room as well in an attempt to get them both. Even if the images sent across the network were tied back to the roommate (or somebody nextdoor, whatever) this guy was still toast over the CD they found. Accepting the plea bargain was probably this guy's only chance of avoiding a much longer sentence.

    1. Re:They found kid porn on a CD in his room by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      One could assume the roomate hid the cd in his room to take the heat off himself. Give himself an easy out if the police ever came to the apartment.

      That said, if that was his plan, you would think he would register the IM in his roomates name too.

      So it sounds to me like "blame it on the roomate" was his plan, and done badly.

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    2. Re:They found kid porn on a CD in his room by maxume · · Score: 2, Insightful

      He was attempting to have evidence obtained in the search excluded from the trial. The headline and summary and story are bizarre, as the open WAP was not the probable cause, the evidence of the traffic on that WAP was the probable cause. The ruling was that the possibility of the traffic coming from someone other than the owner of the access point was not enough to protect the owner from the search. That's pretty reasonable. If you tell police that gun registered to you and used in commission of a crime was stolen, they are still going to be able to get a search warrant, waving your hands in the air and saying it wasn't you isn't enough.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  15. Probable Cause for Warrant/Evidence in Court by geoffrobinson · · Score: 1

    If I am reading the summary and the article correctly and if your wirless network is open and bad stuff is traced to it, there is probable cause for obtaining and sharing that evidence in court.

    It weighs against you. But if you can show you were in the middle of a wilderness trip when illegal stuff was downloaded, I doubt you will be found guilty.

    --
    Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
    1. Re:Probable Cause for Warrant/Evidence in Court by abb3w · · Score: 1

      If I am reading the summary and the article correctly and if your wirless network is open and bad stuff is traced to it, there is probable cause for obtaining and sharing that evidence in court. It weighs against you. But if you can show you were in the middle of a wilderness trip when illegal stuff was downloaded, I doubt you will be found guilty.

      Not quite.

      What this is saying is that if they trace the network traffic to your IP, that's grounds for a search of the physical premises. It doesn't matter that your open WAP meant the original traffic could have been someone else; it's reasonable to suspect it could have come from you. Further, as I(AmNotALawyer) understand the matter, any evidence they find within the limits of the warrant's search may be used as evidence against you, even if unrelated to the suspected crime forming the original basis for the (reasonable) grounds for search. Thus, if based on a suspicion of kiddie porn, they had a warrant for search-and-seizure of all computer storage, and they find a CD labeled (and indeed containing) "ST0LEN CR3DIT CARD NUMBERZ", you wouldn't be able to object that they didn't have probably cause for a search (although might have slim grounds for objecting to an overbroad search). At that point, they only need to link you to the physical evidence they've found, not to the specific offense that started the investigation.

      As a non-IT example, imagine a warrant issued to search your premises for drugs, based on neighbor complaints about persistent odors of marijuana smoke. It doesn't matter that the original grounds for the search was your roommate smoking weed while you were out of town, if they find five kilos of cocaine packed in Ziplock bags with your fingerprints and stashed in your bedroom. You're still busted on a drug charge.

      Of course, if the warrant says "computer media", and they come across the five kilos while ripping apart your mattress, that might not be admissible... but your lawyer will earn his pay keeping you out of jail.

      So remember kiddies:

      • If you're going to leave your access point open, don't have evidence of any of your criminal activity about the house
      • Leaving evidence around is a bad habit any time
      • "Witnesses" count as evidence
      --
      //Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
  16. It was not the WAP that got him jailed, but the CD by ArwynH · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It was not the WAP that got him jailed, but the fact that he had a CD full of child porn in his room. The Open WAP was just deemed not an acceptable reason to invalidate the search warrant and make the CD in admissible as evidence.

  17. Story is a little different than the headline... by rborek · · Score: 3, Informative
    The issue was that he claimed that the mere fact that the FBI linked an IP address to him wasn't sufficient cause for a search warrant. They had conversations and logs of information coming from that IP address. The man claims that that is insufficient cause for a search warrant - and the trial judge and appeal court judges disagreed.

    He wasn't charged based on the IMs - he was charged because they found CDs of child porn in his room. Had they searched his place and found no child porn images, he most likely would not have been charged - at the very worst, he would have been charged and been able to raise a successful defence that it wasn't him (unless they had hard evidence to link the conversations to him).

  18. Summon Sam Waterston... by basic0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "I'm sorry your honor, I'd like to request a brief recess so that I can bone the prosecution behind my assistant DA/girlfriend's back."

    "Very well, Mr.McCoy, but I'll remind you that this is a high-profile, ripped-from-the-headlines case that will decide the fate of alleged child pornographers for years to come, and I--Mr.McCoy, could you at least wait until the courtroom has been cleared?"

    Yes, it's offtopic, but have you ever WATCHED that show?

    1. Re:Summon Sam Waterston... by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 1

      Yes, it's offtopic, but have you ever WATCHED that show? Yes, but only to count the adorable wrinkles in Fred Thompson's brow. Grrrrr ...
    2. Re:Summon Sam Waterston... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn, I think I missed that episode!

    3. Re:Summon Sam Waterston... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I prefer SVU. Detective Olivia Benson can ruin my day anytime ;-)

  19. It makes sense in this case. by fatboy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There was cause to search his house because a crime appeared to have occurred there. When the house was searched, more evidence in support of establishing that a crime occurred there was found. I don't see how the second set of evidence could be thrown out, if all procedures were properly followed in establishing the cause to search his house. I don't see that it matters he had an Open WAP.

    If they searched his house and found no evidence supporting the initial reported crime, I believe he could use the Open WAP as defense.

    --
    --fatboy
    1. Re:It makes sense in this case. by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      Not really.

      Infact, there was evidence that a crime occured somewhere in the general vicinity of his house. It could have occured at least 2 doors down in any direction.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    2. Re:It makes sense in this case. by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      There was cause to search his house because a crime appeared to have occurred there. When the house was searched, more evidence in support of establishing that a crime occurred there was found. I don't see how the second set of evidence could be thrown out, if all procedures were properly followed in establishing the cause to search his house.

      If it could be determined that the initial search was not legitimate because there was not sufficient reason to search, then the second set of evidence is thrown out as a way of motivating the police not to perform illegal searches in the first place. This is, of course, not just, but it is a practical tradeoff. In a perfect world, the police would be convicted of illegally searching the house and the evidence would still be considered legit and both the police and the searched person would be punished. In reality, the police are in a position to make sure they can't be convicted for the search via placing false evidence, so they would never get convicted and would simply continue to break the law.

      If they searched his house and found no evidence supporting the initial reported crime, I believe he could use the Open WAP as defense.

      If they searched and found no evidence of anything, then he could, indeed, use the open WAP as a defense.

    3. Re:It makes sense in this case. by maxume · · Score: 1

      So if you stick a gun on a table at the edge or your yard and put up a big sign that says "This gun is loaded and I am unlikely to be looking out the window" and someone walks up, picks up the gun with their gloved hands and shoots a bunch of holes in a car parked in the street, there is evidence that a crime was committed nearby, but no reason to assume you were involved? That's just rich.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    4. Re:It makes sense in this case. by fatboy · · Score: 1

      Not really.

      Infact, there was evidence that a crime occured somewhere in the general vicinity of his house. It could have occured at least 2 doors down in any direction.


      That is correct, however you have provided no reason to toss out the evidence that was found.

      --
      --fatboy
    5. Re:It makes sense in this case. by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      So if you stick a gun on a table at the edge or your yard and put up a big sign that says "This gun is loaded and I am unlikely to be looking out the window" and someone walks up, picks up the gun with their gloved hands and shoots a bunch of holes in a car parked in the street, there is evidence that a crime was committed nearby, but no reason to assume you were involved? That's just rich.

      Actually, that is more or less the case, if not for the fact that leaving loaded firearms around is almost certainly a crime in and of itself. Think instead if (to be nice) you had, in your yard, a table with baseball equipment on it that you always let the neighborhood kids use, provided they promised to return said equipment. Then someone came up and used the baseball bat to smash up a car on the street and steal the stereo. There may be enough evidence, based upon that, for the police to get a warrant to look in your house to see if the car stereo is there, but certainly not enough to convict you of the vandalism/theft if they don't find any stereo or other evidence.

    6. Re:It makes sense in this case. by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      Since when is evidence that a crime has occured in a particular neighborhood ever been probable cause for searching one particular house?

      That is basically what you're advocating.

      Unless this is a pattern of activity that has been observed over a non-trivial amount of time, you can't even nail it down to the residents of the area in question.

      It's not just that "someone in the neighborhood has been misbehaiving" but "someone in the neighborhood, or someone that may have just visited the neighborhood" has been misbehaiving. You're advocating a weak standard that's far too easily abused.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    7. Re:It makes sense in this case. by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      Since when is evidence that a crime has occured in a particular neighborhood ever been probable cause for searching one particular house? That is basically what you're advocating.

      I disagree. Actually there was additional evidence to establish probable cause. The service used to perform the operation was owned and paid for by a person in that given house and in general short range open wireless points are not discovered and used by others, although that is possible. To me that sounds like probable cause to search the residence (although they should have specified the residence and not the one individual's possessions).

      s not just that "someone in the neighborhood has been misbehaiving" but "someone in the neighborhood, or someone that may have just visited the neighborhood" has been misbehaiving. You're advocating a weak standard that's far too easily abused.

      Perhaps. It is hard to be too careful when it comes to handing the police authority. I would have preferred to see the police follow up via other means and try to contact the person involved while at least correlating that the person was in the house at the time. I can see both sides of the argument.

    8. Re:It makes sense in this case. by fatboy · · Score: 1

      Since when is evidence that a crime has occured in a particular neighborhood ever been probable cause for searching one particular house?

      It is not probable cause to search any given house in the neighborhood. Even if there were Ethernet cables strung between his house and every home within the area his AP could serve, it would not negate the fact that the suspect's home is the demarcation point between the "neighborhood" and the internet connection that was used in the commission of a crime.

      It's not just that "someone in the neighborhood has been misbehaiving" but "someone in the neighborhood, or someone that may have just visited the neighborhood" has been misbehaiving. You're advocating a weak standard that's far too easily abused.

      If they were searching every house and car within reach of the AP, that would be a standard that is too easily abused. Searching the premises of the person who resides at the demarcation point of an Internet connection that was used in the commission of a crime is not unreasonable.

      --
      --fatboy
  20. News like this worries me... by zappepcs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Now, if they have evidence, IMs, emails, browser logs, and enough to convince even /. crowds that there is evidence, that is all good and well.

    What if you are using an app that downloads from newsgroups automatically. You are a pr0n fan, but someone puts pictures in the newsgroup that are both undesirable and illegal that then are downloaded to your system. Unless you spot them and remove them, there they are to be found if inspected.

    Does anyone here know if there is a defense for this predicament? I'm not in it, but conceivably be some day.

    1. Re:News like this worries me... by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 1

      Does anyone here know if there is a defense for this predicament? I'm not in it, but conceivably be some day. Personally I would recommend ceasing the automated p0rn downloads and doing them the old fashioned way ... by hand.
    2. Re:News like this worries me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      In the UK that makes you guilty.

      They have separate offences of making an image, transmitting an image, and storing an image. You will be breaking the last one. Ignorance is not an excuse. It's similar to having your drink spiked - you are still guilty of driving over the limit.

      I have wondered why more viruses are not passed out with kiddy-porn pictures attached. Just one getting spread well about would really shake up the legislative process. Especially if it got onto Congress or Senate machines.

    3. Re:News like this worries me... by zappepcs · · Score: 1

      I hope that the 'right' people are reading what you said ;)

    4. Re:News like this worries me... by Oriumpor · · Score: 1

      Also, to throw another argument out there, what's child pr0n to one country is not child porn to another. With the internet being without boundaries and usenet being without propper labels you can put money on a binary grabber getting something considered child porn in the states pretty easily.

      With the state of technological education in this nation you can also bet that the judge you end up sitting in front of would have little chance comprehending, let alone understanding your situation. Bottom line, you broke the "LAW" by doing that, so you should pay the "CONSEQUENCES." To hell with the fact that your possesion of it was unintentional, or that it didn't even violate any laws in the act of producing the pr0n (if it happens to be illegal here and legal in Denmark for instance.)

      If you wanna keep up binary-grabbing encrypt your communication to and from usenet, and encrypt your data stores, and don't be an idiot with porn images in aim/myspace etc.

    5. Re:News like this worries me... by hesiod · · Score: 1

      If they ever traced it back to the author, though, he would be royally screwed: "How many million counts of distributing illegal pornographic material?"

      That probably far outweighs the remotely possible benefit of the questionably honorable nature of the act itself.

    6. Re:News like this worries me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      "...They have separate offences of making an image, transmitting an image, and storing an image. You will be breaking the last one...."

      Wrong. In the UK, if you've got a kiddie porn image in any kind of recoverable state, even if it is deleted, you will in all likelyhood be charged with making the image. Presumably, because you "made" the copy by downloading it, however this happened, be it intentional or no. This is a more serious offence than simple possession. This is well established in case law.

    7. Re:News like this worries me... by AndrewM1 · · Score: 2, Informative

      That would simply be a Mistake of fact. From Wikipedia:

      "A defendant goes into a supermarket and places eight items in a basket which is presented to the cashier for payment in the usual way. Both honestly believe that all eight items have been scanned, and the defendant pays the sum shown on the bill. A store detective, however, notices that a mistake was made by the cashier so that only seven items were actually priced. This detective arrests the defendant after leaving the store. Since the defendant honestly believes that he has become the owner of goods in a sale transaction, he cannot form the mens rea for theft (which is usually dishonesty) when he physically removes them from the store. Accordingly, he should be acquitted."

      Same here. If you honestly believed you were downloading legal, adult pornography, and someone slipped a few kiddie pics into there, you would have no mens rea for the crime and would be aquitted (asuming they couldn't prove you had used the pics, or that your belief that you weren't getting kiddie porn wasn't unreasonable. For example, if you downloaded everything from alt.sex.kids, you couldn't claim it was a mistake; since a reasonable person should have expected that they might get child porn from there.)

  21. The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by Erioll · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him, not the open access point. The whole thing revolves around the fact that they found an IM of somebody with an IP originating from his residence that contained a child porn picture. This got them a search warrant, and they found additional evidence including a stack of DVDs with child porn images on them (and think HOW MANY images are needed to fill more than one DVD).

    The only point where the open access point comes in to it is that he claimed that because it was open, it means that ANYBODY could have used IPs from inside his house, and thus the search should have been thrown out, and the evidence gathered suppressed. But the judge didn't go for it.

    In non-technical terms, it's like claiming that your house is always unlocked, thus any evidence they ever find there should never be admissible, since anybody could have put it there. And as I said above, the judge didn't go for it, and rightfully so IMO. So this isn't "police look for open access points, and go fishing wherever they find one" but rather "an open access point doesn't get you out of finding DVDs of illegal material in your house."

    1. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Or better yet its like them finding a trail of blood into your house, and claiming you always keep it unlocked. Good point. Sorry, I don't have mod points.

      --
      Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
    2. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by DCheesi · · Score: 1

      In non-technical terms, it's like claiming that your house is always unlocked, thus any evidence they ever find there should never be admissible, since anybody could have put it there. And as I said above, the judge didn't go for it, and rightfully so IMO. So this isn't "police look for open access points, and go fishing wherever they find one" but rather "an open access point doesn't get you out of finding DVDs of illegal material in your house."
      This is an interesting point, since he had a roommate, and he apparently also claimed that police should have included his roommate's room in the search as well. I think the idea was to cast doubt based on the fact that the roommate could have decided to stash some of his illegal stuff in this guy's room (while leaving other traces in his own room). Obviously this is doubtful, but it is possible.

      I'm sure there must be case law on the roommate scenario, since it probably comes up often in drug cases. Does anyone know what the precedents are?
    3. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by Achromatic1978 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm sure there must be case law on the roommate scenario, since it probably comes up often in drug cases. Does anyone know what the precedents are?

      Simple, really. They just enacted laws that said that every occupant of the house could be presumed to have equal liability unless they could demonstrate cause as to why they shouldn't. Not exactly guilty until proven innocent, but definite guilt by association. Welcome to the "War" on (some) drugs.

    4. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by jmac1492 · · Score: 0

      No, it's more like how ANYONE could have put that stolen sports car in your garage because you always leave the door open.

      Sorry, but it doesn't work on Slashdot unless it's a car analogy.

      --
      Jenny's got a new number! 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    5. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm all for convicting pedophiles, but some of the standards used to determine whether or not a picture is an adult or someone under 18 scare me.

      Basically someone in the prosecution looks at an image and, based solely upon their personal judgement, determines whether or not the image is of an adult or not. Based solely upon that judgement the image is "child porn."

      Some people just look young. I'm damn near 40 and still get carded every time I hit a bar. On my 21st birthday I had two forms of ID showing I was 21 and over a half dozen liquor stores refused to sell me beer (I eventually gave up and had a friend buy it). And I'm certainly not the only person on the planet with this problem.

      Basically what this means is that if you have a braincell in your head, it's time to get the hell out of Texas. Let the latent homosexuals fight it out amongst themselves.

    6. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by spiritraveller · · Score: 1

      I'm sure there must be case law on the roommate scenario, since it probably comes up often in drug cases. Does anyone know what the precedents are?

      Under the Equal Access Doctrine, proof that they both had the same access to the contraband--if there's no other evidence--would be insufficient to convict either one of possession.

      But according to the article, the porn was found in the defendant's room, and the "roommate" had a different room.

      The defendant didn't attack the substance of the charge. He entered a conditional guilty plea and appealed the denial of his motion to suppress the evidence.

      His argument that there was no probable cause because he had an open access point is ridiculous. For one thing, it would require the police to triangulate any wifi signals near a suspect's home prior to applying for a search warrant. And assuming they had someone on their payroll with the technical know-how for that, they would have no way of knowing whether an access point was on at the time of an offense.

      He could have taken it to trial and blamed the roommate. But unfortunately, a defendant in Federal court is likely to face a considerable increase in prison time if convicted after a trial. So either he knew he would lose at trial, or he decided it wasn't worth the risk of an extra few years in prison.

    7. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by RockoTDF · · Score: 1

      True, that is what convicted him. However, entering ones house without their permission and/or leaving things there is illegal, using their open WAP is not.

      --
      There is more to science than physics!

      www.iomalfunction.blogspot.com
    8. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by inkedgeek · · Score: 1

      Not true. Use of WAP, even if it's not for illegal means, can be construed as illegal just on the basis of useage.

      http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/17/19 56233

      --
      696e6b6564
    9. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They have trained professionals who determine it. And they won't be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it is child porn if the people in the image look to be around 16-17 but they can't identify them to know for sure.

      People generally do not get convicted of child porn made of 16-17 year olds unless they know them personally or have documentation of their ages. They get convicted of child porn when it involves 12 year olds. Unless there is significant development issues (which the trained professional/doctor would be qualified to determine and would have have attempted to discern) there is no way the child porn people get convicted of without identifying the subjects could be of legal age.

    10. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by Lane.exe · · Score: 2, Informative

      Right. The open AP had nothing to do with any sort of probable cause. His strategy at trial was to say that the search warrant that was sworn out to obtain the DVDs was earned illegally, thus making the fruits of that search illegal. The judge, reviewing the sufficiency of the warrant, did not believe it was issued in error, thus making the seizure of the DVDs legal under the Fourth Amendment. The DVDs were introduced into evidence, and the defendant was convicted of the crime of possession of child pornography.

      --
      IAALS.
    11. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      they found additional evidence including a stack of DVDs with child porn images on them (and think HOW MANY images are needed to fill more than one DVD).
      Yes, lets think about that for a second and evaluate it with a little critical thinking.

      First, the article says CDs not DVDs, so that reduces the amount to only ~700MB per disc. That's still a lot, especially for a "stack." What are the chances that every single image was kiddie porn? Seems like a stretch to me. I'm willing to bet that most pictures were of adults and there were a few questionable pictures mixed in.

      The guy could easily have just downloaded a couple of days worth of alt.binaries.pictures.erotica without screening them too carefully. Who knows, he may even be completely legal, he just can't prove it because some of the pictures have 30 year old asian chicks wearing pig-tails and catholic school uniforms, making them look like pre-teens and without the official documents on file from the photo-shoot, he can't prove otherwise.

      Sure, maybe the guy's CDs were loaded with the nasty stuff with 5-year olds and such. But we sure can't tell from the article and there are plenty of examples of over-blown prosecutions in the past. Just look at the major dragnet in the UK that caught up hundreds of innocents, causing too many of the verifiably innocent to commit suicide. The stigma of these cases cause rationality to go out the window.
      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    12. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by shawn(at)fsu · · Score: 1

      I'm willing to bet that most pictures were of adults and there were a few questionable pictures mixed in.
      Nice conjecture I have an "I'm willing to bet" for you: I bet you have no way to back that up that assertion.

      So what about him sending an instant message to a New York woman. Sent over Yahoo's network, the IM contained a sexually explicit picture of a minor
      Your saying he just happened to have a lot of porn CD's that had a few pictured of Child porn and some one else used his open WAP to send the IM?

      Well guess what It doesn't matter if it was one picture or 100 pictures. He had at least one on the CD's and having one is enough to convict.

      --
      500 dollar reward for tip(s) leading to the arrest of the person(s) who stole my sig.
    13. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by kms_md · · Score: 1
      from the ruling (linked elsewhere in this thread):

      Perez admitted that he possessed and "collected" child pornography. He was able to direct the officers searching his home to compact discs that contained child pornography. At least one such compact disc had file folders labeled "kiddie porn." The Attorney General's office reviewed only a portion of the approximately 4000 compact discs seized from Perez, and still found an estimated 2500 images of child pornography. so, no, he did not accidentally download some kiddie porn unattended. they guy ADMITTED to possession of the illegal files. he was trying to get off (no pun intended) on a technicality.
    14. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by DragonWriter · · Score: 1

      I'm sure there must be case law on the roommate scenario, since it probably comes up often in drug cases. Does anyone know what the precedents are?


      It seems more a question of the credibility of evidence and whether in a particular case a given conclusion should be drawn from it; more of a thing for the jury than something you'd expect to see case law directly addressing more than tangentially.
    15. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      Nice conjecture I have an "I'm willing to bet" for you: I bet you have no way to back that up that assertion.
      Go download a week's worth of posts to a.b.p.e and look at what you end up with.

      So what about him sending an instant message to a New York woman. Sent over Yahoo's network, the IM contained a sexually explicit picture of a minor
      Your saying he just happened to have a lot of porn CD's that had a few pictured of Child porn and some one else used his open WAP to send the IM?
      There are a couple of plausible explanations -- Somebody who knew he was a porn-hound knew he had an open wap and sent it, knowing that the chances of the cops digging up *something* would be pretty high. Or perhaps his system was infected with a virus that was responsible for the IM - after all, haven't we heard about how super-secretive the kiddie-porn crews are, why would this guy randomly send out a bunch of pictures to someone he didn't know? That's like begging to get arrested, totally not in character for the stereotypical kiddie porn consumer.

      By the way, from the ruling, he had approximately 4,000 discs and only "thousands" of images of child pornography. Considering that an average size of 100K (an educated guess) each disc can hold more than 7,000 jpegs. If there were 9,999 such images, that's still less than 0.004% of the total collection, EASILY so far in the noise that he may have never even seen the illegal images.

      Well guess what It doesn't matter if it was one picture or 100 pictures. He had at least one on the CD's and having one is enough to convict.
      Yeah, and that's the problem with the law. If he didn't even know he had the images, it sure doesn't seem fair. After all, the point of the law is try to reduce demand - its like convicting a guy for posession of cocaine because one of the $20 bills in his wallet had residue on it because a previous owner used it to snort a few lines.
      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    16. Re:The Stack of Kiddie Porn DVDs convicted him... by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      so, no, he did not accidentally download some kiddie porn unattended. they guy ADMITTED to possession of the illegal files. he was trying to get off (no pun intended) on a technicality.
      Do you think it literally said "kiddie porn" or did it say something like alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.kids and the court was given a non-technical translation? Note also that the ruling doesn't say if that folder contained any files, just that the folder existed. That's easily within the realm of possibility, as a porn hound, the guy probably set his newsreader to download everything in the alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.* hierarchy, not really paying attention to the details.

      With 4,000 CDs, that's over 2.75TB, that's a gargantuan number of images. Even if he had been collecting for ten years, starting back in 1994 that would be an average of 1 CD per day, every day of the year.

      This part of the ruling, at the very end, is really where the problem is:

      Accordingly, there is sufficient evidence in the record to demonstrate that Perez either intended to possess prepubescent and sadistic/masochistic images or had reckless disregard for his possession of them.
      The judge even admits the possibility that Perez had no malicious intent, but still tries to stretch the circumstances to fit the crime. I absolutely disagree that it would require "reckless disregard" - as the numbers cited in the ruling show, it is much more likely that he would have had to have superhuman focus to weed out all the questionable images that he had downloaded.
      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  22. The 5th Circuit's opinion by Orion_ · · Score: 2, Informative

    The ruling is here.

  23. Catch - 22 by Jerry · · Score: 2, Interesting

    IF you run a password protected WAP and some cracker hacks your AP and begins downloading illegal stuff then these legal beagles will say that you are guilty because no one else can use your account.

    Either way you are hosed if someone uses your AP illegally.

    --

    Running with Linux for over 20 years!

    1. Re:Catch - 22 by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      They may say you're guilty, but they won't be able to convict. Unless, of course, said cracker *also* figures out how to store the downloaded files onto your systems.

      Innocent until proven guilty is only a legal concept. It is perfectly normal to believe that someone is guilty based on the flimsiest of evidence. People do it all the time, and will probably never stop.

  24. If you did what you suggest by mcg1969 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you did what you suggest---go to a bunch of open WAPs and do child porn searches---then none of the people you target will ultimately get in trouble. They might get their homes searched, but the FBI wouldn't find any evidence of child porn, because you're long gone.

    Furthermore your second paragraph isn't a fair characterization of what happened here. The cops aren't going around searching for open WAPs. It was the defense that brought this argument, not the cops. The allegedly illegal IM traffic came from the defendant's IP address, and he used the open WAP argument to suggest that since it could have been a drive-by or neighbor, that they didn't have enough evidence to search his house. Well, they may not have had enough evidence to convict, certainly---but you don't need nearly as much to get the search warrant. I frankly agree with that decision. The evidence stated that a crime was committed in the vicinity of that house.

    1. Re:If you did what you suggest by hab136 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If you did what you suggest---go to a bunch of open WAPs and do child porn searches---then none of the people you target will ultimately get in trouble. They might get their homes searched, but the FBI wouldn't find any evidence of child porn, because you're long gone.

      Even if they find nothing, it's standard procedure to take everything that even remotely looks like a computer (like your Xbox/PS3/Wii), along with all accessories - printers, CDs, etc - and then only return it 3 years later when your lawyer hounds them enough.
    2. Re:If you did what you suggest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only that, but machines on the internal network could have been hacked and anything put on them.

      I recently had a problem where someone got into my network (it was WEP encrypted) and screwed around with stuff. Fortunately most machines on my network are secured but they did manage to find my MythTV machine and screw up my scheduling via the web interface.

    3. Re:If you did what you suggest by einhverfr · · Score: 1

      I think that if the police started looking for open WAP's as probable cause in and of themselves, it would be a violation of civil rights. IANAL, but that does seem like unreasonable search and siezure.

      The thing to bear in mind is that *in this case* there was evidence to suggest a crime had been committed in or near the house. The open WAP argument was part of a motion to suppress, the idea being that if you have an open WAP, then nobody can *ever* get a search warrant for child pornography based on internet traffic. For obvious reasons, the judge didn't buy this logic.

      I always find the legal analysis in Slashdot summaries to be... amusing.... Of course, organizations like the Heritage Foundation or the main stream media are not any better... I suppose the only thing to do is to locate and read the cases yourself.

      Sort of like the child porn case where the guy was convicted of producing the pronography based largely on testimony from the children involved but tried to appeal and vacate on the basis that encryption software was improperly entered as evidence. The judge there didn't buy it either. In both cases, the process went down very different paths than what was reported, and in both cases, people were needlessly proclaiming that the sky was falling. It is not. And there is nothing to see here (please move along).

      OTOH, if you think that merely having an open access point makes you above the law, think again.

      --

      LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
    4. Re:If you did what you suggest by jadavis · · Score: 1

      Probable cause sucks, but it's a compromise.

      Remember, a judge has to sign the warrant first. That doesn't mean you did anything wrong necessarily, but it does mean that it looks pretty suspicious.

      --
      Social scientists are inspired by theories; scientists are humbled by facts.
  25. Hate to nitpick by rehtonAesoohC · · Score: 1

    If they found nothing to collaborate the on-line transmissions at his address
    I think you mean corroborate.
  26. Another example... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 0
    Let's say that your house smelled like ammonia and the neighbors called the cops. The cops got a search warrant and found a meth lab operating in your garage. Your defense was, "but ... I always left the door unlocked!" Do you think that would fly in court?

    Maybe if you were on vacation and the place was closed for the summer, but not if you were living there at the time.

    -b.

    1. Re:Another example... by pcmanjon · · Score: 1

      > Let's say that your house smelled like ammonia and the neighbors called the cops. The cops got a search
      > warrant and found a meth lab operating in your garage. Your defense was, "but ... I always left the door
      > unlocked!" Do you think that would fly in court?

      Based on your scenario it brings an interesting question. What if you always left your garage locked and one day a methlab was found? You'd definitely look more guilty than had your door been left unlocked.

      Now, what if you have a WEP or PSA secured AP and child porn is tied to you? You're much more likely to have the jury think "Well if it was secured how could anyone get in???" than if your AP was left open to all.

  27. Re:Cite your sources by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 1

    In all seriousness: Can you provide links to people claiming that European countries are "more free" than the U.S.? I'm an ignorant USian and have never heard such things.

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
  28. Not to forget the fingerprints on the DVDs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    DVDs are flat smooth surfaces ideal for holding fingerprints, as anybody with a three year old will tell you. If they guy was innocent then he would be going on about how his room mate's fingeprints were all over the child porn.. As it is, going on about how his access point was open so they had no right to find the DVDs is total bull. They probably didn't even know that it was his access point until they entered the place.

    Think physical; you shoot someone in your house, then claim that the police search which found the weapon was illegal because some of your windows were unlocked, so the police could have thought that it was a long distance sniper. BAAAHHHHH.

  29. Open WAP by carrier+lost · · Score: 1

    Is that anything like Open Sores?

  30. This is stupidity in it's prime by Khyber · · Score: 1

    Apparently the court making that decision has no clue as to the technical ineptitude of most users that buy a wireless router. Odds are, the judges themselves are just as inept. Makes me sad to hail from Texas. I remember when my school system (PISD) was ranked 4th in the nation among independent school districts. Now I look at the rankings, it's fallen behind every other state. :( So much for education and No Child Left Behind.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    1. Re:This is stupidity in it's prime by Kiaser+Wilhelm+II · · Score: 1

      You missed the point entirely. The guy was found in possession of CP. How on earth does having an open WAP make you exempt from the laws of the land?

      --
      Lord High Crapflooder The Right Honourable Vlad Craig Esther McDavenpherson III
      Destroyer of Mercatur.Net
    2. Re:This is stupidity in it's prime by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are mistaken in where the Bush administration wants to take those kids...

    3. Re:This is stupidity in it's prime by DragonWriter · · Score: 1

      Apparently the court making that decision has no clue as to the technical ineptitude of most users that buy a wireless router.


      I don't see what the technical ineptitude of the average wireless router user has to do with the legal question here, which is whether the there was probable cause for a search based on the IM containing illegal material sent from an IP traced back to the defendant. Sure, someone else could have accessed the WAP and sent the IM; search warrants aren't criminal convictions, and probable cause isn't proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

      If they hadn't found actual evidence that the open WAP doesn't provide a means to blame on someone else, this guy wouldn't been inconvenienced by the search and probably learned to secure his WAP, but wouldn't have been charged with, much less convicted of, anything.
    4. Re:This is stupidity in it's prime by kms_md · · Score: 1
      from the appellate court's decision:

      After the officers searched Perez's room, in which they located compact discs containing child pornography, Perez, who was present during the search, directed the officers to storage bins in the garage, where more such compact discs were found. In total, approximately 4000 compact discs containing thousands of images of child pornography were seized by the officers.

      4000 CDs of child porn. he was guilty as hell. he even led the officers to more of it in the garage. he was basically trying to have the results of the search thrown out as "fruits of the poisoned tree" from an illegal search. it seems to me more than enough probable cause to search the residence was documented.

    5. Re:This is stupidity in it's prime by nasor · · Score: 1

      Actually, the fact that the guy apparently had 4000 CDs of porn but only had a "few thousand" images of illegal porn makes me wonder if he was collecting it intentionally or not. 4000 CDs should have been enough to hold many tens of millions of images. Was the guy just automatically downloading and burning every image posted to alt.binaries.*, and some illegal porn happened to get mixed in?

  31. Re:Cite your sources by giorgiofr · · Score: 1

    Uhm, read any page on the internet where topics related to politics are discussed? Such as /.?

    --
    Global warming is a cube.
  32. Re:Idiocy is an excuse! by Rukie · · Score: 1

    Idiocy:lack of knowledge. somebody knows that you are driving from Chicago to Detroit. This person puts a bag of weed or cocaine underneath the rear bumper. Because you didn't know it could be stored there, nor that it was there, you are held liable for possession of cocaine/weed when you get pulled over for speeding. Its the same thing, either way your screwed.

    --
    Support the source, Open Source! An entire site developed with OSS
  33. proabable cause? by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    I could not get to the linked article, but if they are talking probable cause to search, that smacks right in the face of the constitution.

    Having an open wep is no different thenleaving your livingroom window curtains open but not expecting the police to come breaking down your door to search your closet in your bedroom.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:proabable cause? by maxume · · Score: 1

      The article is making stupid prognostications. The defendant tried to argue that having an open WAP meant that the police did not have sufficient evidence to search his house, because the traffic that they associated with his WAP could have been anybody.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    2. Re:proabable cause? by tinkerghost · · Score: 1

      Having an IM's IP traced back to the WAP was the probable cause to search the house. The fact that it was open was the defense against the search warrant.

      Rather than your analogy, this is more like the police seeing a crack deal go down on your front steps & you claiming that because it's the front steps they can't search your house. The rule of thumb is "If you hear quacking, look for the duck".

      Hell, if the police see 'Bob' sell crack & they follow him 6 blocks to your house, where he has dinner, and then runs off to sell a few more rocks, the police do have probable cause to search your house. When they find nothing, it's supposed to be over. In this case, rather than nothing, they found cases of evidence. The requirement for 'probable cause' in the US is pretty low, and the IP address certainly qualifies as enough information to get a warrant.

  34. PARENT IS PLAGARIST! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Watch out for plagarism" -Me

    I demand $6,000,000 in damages be paid to me immediately.

  35. Open WAP is ALREADY probable cause. by KimiDalamori · · Score: 1

    In america, If you leave a corpse in your living room and then open the windows so the neighborhood can see in, the police dont need a search warrant, because what they need is in plain sight. You can't later claim that they violated your 4th amendment rights because you have no reasonable expectation of privacy. This is why its legal to go dumpster diving, among other things. What's to stop the police from taking the same stance with an open WAP, since you've left it open, you're inviting the whole world to look in and see. If they find evidence of copyright infringement, or kiddie porn, what's to stop them from saying it was in plain sight?

    --
    Lagito ergo expectabo
    1. Re:Open WAP is ALREADY probable cause. by Kiaser+Wilhelm+II · · Score: 1

      Are you the Bad Analogy Guy by any chance?

      Leaving a corpse in plain view is not at all like having an Open WAP. One is about leaving evidence of a crime in plain sight while the other is about having a tool with your name on it being open for others to possibly use to do illegal things with.

      Now, I don't disagree with the idea that running an Open WAP shouldn't exempt you from police investigations, but please don't make silly analogies.

      --
      Lord High Crapflooder The Right Honourable Vlad Craig Esther McDavenpherson III
      Destroyer of Mercatur.Net
    2. Re:Open WAP is ALREADY probable cause. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've had a corpse in my living room for a week now, propped up by my open WAP. The neighbors haven't said a word. Do I have bad neighbors? I want to get rid of this corpse. The smell is getting pretty unbearable.

  36. For Christ Sakes RTFA by Luscious868 · · Score: 4, Informative

    RTFA people. An IM that contained child porn was sent via Yahoo from this guy's IP address. It was reported, the authorities obtained the IP address used to send the IM and obtained a search warrant for this guy's house. Authorities discovered a stack of CD's that contained child porn when they searched his residence.

    I don't see the problem here. If someone was using his open WAP to send the IM authorities wouldn't have discovered child porn when they searched his house and/or computer and there would be no prosecution. The guy was on physical possession of the material in question.

    An open WiFi network can't be used as an argument against probable cause. It makes perfect sense to me. If illegal activity is occurring from a particular IP you can't even know if there was a WAP involved, let alone if it was open or not, at the time the crime took place. You need a search warrant to further investigate. Sure you couldcheck for an open WAP without a warrant, but all that would tell you is if there is an open or closed WAP there now, not if one was in place or was secured or not when the activity in question took place. To make that determination you'd need more information but at that point you do have probable cause for a search warrant.

    1. Re:For Christ Sakes RTFA by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      I don't see the problem here. If someone was using his open WAP to send the IM authorities wouldn't have discovered child porn when they searched his house and/or computer and there would be no prosecution.

      For the most part, I agree with you and with this court ruling. With the latter, I would quibble that the warrant should specify a search of the premises and computers that could be connecting, rather than a search of one particular resident's possessions.

      The danger here is the potential for abuse. You assert that if the person had not been dealing in child pornography that the police would not have been any prosecution. This is not necessarily so. What if the person had been sitting on the couch with a bag of marijuana for their personal use and not harming anyone? Then such a misdirected search could result in a lengthy prison sentence as the police enforce an unjust prohibition law. Or, what if a police officer involved did not really understand the concept of an open wireless point or was tired of these guys getting away, so they brought a CD full of child porn with them to plant? Or what if the person involved ran a coffee shop that had all sorts of traffic through it, and the police knew the open access point made it unlikely that it was the proprietor, but wanted to harass that person and go on a fishing expedition for anything they might be doing wrong, and now had an excuse?

      Let me repeat, I think this was the right call. I just don't think it is open and shut and I can see a real argument in favor of requiring more evidence to constitute probable cause for a search. For example, they could easily have contacted the person posing as someone interested in such materials and arranged a meeting, or used some other technique to at least make sure the person was home when such transactions were taking place. When the police are given power, they abuse it. History has more or less beaten that point into the ground. We need to be very careful about what power we give them, always keeping potential abuses in mind.

    2. Re:For Christ Sakes RTFA by josh82 · · Score: 1

      With the latter, I would quibble that the warrant should specify a search of the premises and computers that could be connecting, rather than a search of one particular resident's possessions.

      The danger here is the potential for abuse.


      Right! Particularly when connecting anonymously through another person's WAP is extremely simple (to say the least), we shouldn't want to allow the possibility that neighbors could simply target a neighbor they don't like (who happens to have an open WAP) by engaging in certain online criminal activity through their IP address, who would then laugh their crooked heads off when watching the neighbor's house get ransacked for electronics (and whatever they happen to find in the meantime, as you say).

      The 'searching every computer within range' proviso you suggest is rather good, given that, with an open WAP, it is probable not only that a neighbor was the one doing the illegal activities in the first place, but perhaps even more probably, presuming that the culprit isn't an idiot. I mean, if you were in the commission of an online crime, it'd be the prudent thing to do to mooch off a neighbor's wireless (not that I'd advocate such a thing).

  37. damn robots... by LanMan04 · · Score: 1

    Old Lady #1: When my ex-husband passed away, the insurance company said his policy didn't cover him.
    Old Lady #2: They didn't have enough money for the funeral.
    Old Lady #3: It's so hard nowadays, with all the gangs and rap music..
    Old Lady #1: What about the robots?
    Old Lady #4: Oh, they're everywhere!
    Old Lady #1: I don't even know why the scientists make them.
    Old Lady #2: Darren and I have a policy with Old Glory Insurance, in case we're attacked by robots.
    Old Lady #1: An insurance policy with a robot plan? Certainly, I'm too old.
    Old Lady #2: Old Glory covers anyone over the age of 50 against robot attack, regardless of current health.

    [ cut to Sam Waterston, Compensated Endorser ]

    Sam Waterson: I'm Sam Waterston, of the popular TV series "Law & Order". As a senior citizen, you're probably aware of the threat robots pose. Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel. Well, now there's a company that offers coverage against the unfortunate event of robot attack, with Old Glory Insurance. Old Glory will cover you with no health check-up or age consideration.

    [ SUPER: Limitied Benefits First Two Years ]

    You need to feel safe. And that's harder and harder to do nowadays, because robots may strike at any time.

    [ show pie chart reading "Cause of Death in Persons Over 50 Years of Age": Heart Disease, 42% - Robots, 58% ]

    And when they grab you with those metal claws, you can't break free.. because they're made of metal, and robots are strong. Now, for only $4 a month, you can achieve peace of mind in a world full of grime and robots, with Old Glory Insurance. So, don't cower under your afghan any longer. Make a choice.

    [ SUPER: "WARNING: Persons denying the existence of Robots may be Robots themselves. ]

    Old Glory Insurance. For when the metal ones decide to come for you - and they will.

    --
    With the first link, the chain is forged.
  38. If its injected? by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    These days, even if you download pictures of cars or povray renders off usenet, you are liable to get kiddy porn.

    You have to look to weed it all out, and technically you just committed a crime. ( or 2 )

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:If its injected? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, the awesome part is that you can't tell if it's illegal to download until you've downloaded it. I can name a picture of a car "super-illegal-thing-!!!1.jpg" and a picture of a super illegal thing "car.jpg"...

  39. Re:Cite your sources by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Reading comprehension has a purpose. Wild generalized statements do not resemble links to back up the claims.
    Try again.

  40. did anybody not see this one coming? by Russ+Nelson · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "For the children! We've got to close down the Internet for the children!"

    You can bet that the child pr0n horseman will cause all anonymous access to the Internet to be lost, no matter the cost to the public. At some point somebody is going to write a "render your own kiddie porn no real children involved" program, at which point the authorities are going to have to make or break the case that kiddie porn causes child abuse. What if it doesn't? Will they lie to protect their power over us? Will the Pope still be Catholic?

    --
    Don't piss off The Angry Economist
    1. Re:did anybody not see this one coming? by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poser_porn

      I wouldn't be surprised if it had already happened. Poser (and similar software) exists, models of children for use with such programs exist, and people with twisted minds and too much free time on their hands exist.

      The odds of those three things in combination producing virtual child porn approaches inevitability.

      --
      Eat the rich.
  41. Re:It was not the WAP that got him jailed, but the by RESPAWN · · Score: 1

    The problem is that the article is a little light on details. They mention a subpoena, but not a warrant. Did they mean a warrant?

    Actually, I don't see where probable cause even factored in to this article. Stating that an open WAP is sufficient for probable cause, would mean that an officer drove by, noticed that a particular house had an open WAP, and then traipsed off to obtain a warrant to search the house becuase having an open WAP is indicative of "X-Y-Z".

    According to the friendly article, this investigation started due to an IM sent from a yahoo account. This account was then tracked back to the house's address via the orriginating IP address. The link between the IM account and the address would have been enough for the investiagion, allowing a warrant to be issued and the house to be searched. That should have been the probable cause to issue the search warrant. Upon searching the house, they police found a stack of CDs in the guy's room with child pornography. Case closed. End of story.

    It appears to be the defendant himself who is trying to draw the link between an open WAP and that being the source of probable cause for the investigation. That's pure FUD. The IP address linked to the IM was the probable cause. This could happen to somebody with a secured WAP or no WAP at all. Where's the open WAP come in to the picture? To my knowledge, the police didn't even mention the WAP in their presentation of evidence for a search warrant. The defendant's merely attempting to confuse the issue with the open WAP defense. In this case, the physical presence of the pornographic materials on site was more than enough evidence to convict him.

    Any one of use could get our houses searched due to this same process of discovery, open WAP or no WAP. This guy's just pissed because he's about to get gang raped in prison.

    --

    If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will.

  42. You don't mess with Texas. Go here -& by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You don't mess with Texas. Do ur weirdo perverse acts in Sweden+Norway+France+New Jersey.

  43. Re:Cite your sources by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought everyone knows that Europe does everything the US does, only a bit later? But in case you didn't know (of course only a rant, no links - we're on the internet, after all):

    So when the US invented civil liberties a few centuries ago, the European nations followed in the course of the last two centuries - and now that the US abolishs them again, so they will follow the US on that lead over the next decades. However, as there is a bit of lag involved, one can easily expect that there comes a short window of time where Europe actually is more free than the US (just plot the graphs).

    On a more serious note, freedom (or rather, the absence of freedom) is somewhat relative. For example, in Europe, we have laws against talking about the Holocaust (you see, unless you use the government-approved education materials, you are going to be imprisoned for Holocaust denial); in the US, you're impeaching presidents and imprisoning students for a blow job. In Europe we have more strict laws against guns (and, interestingly, a significantly lower rate of [esp. gun related] killings per capita); in the US, you use electronic voting machines.

    For a more extreme example: China and Russia are "more free" than the US because they don't respect such absurd freedom-limiting concepts such as "intellectual property". Thus everyone can claim his country (or aggregate of countries, which is Europe) to be "more free" than the other; However, I would not talk about the actions in which you are "more" free but about those in which you are less free: Which of those limitations of freedom you prefer is your decision. I for one would rather none of them.

  44. Missing Word = Jury by DeanFox · · Score: 1


    I'm not sure what "conditional" means in Texas but the man pleaded guilty. Only later did he try and get his conviction overturned by appealing his own guilty plea?

    Maybe a child porn case isn't always the best to take to jury because of the lynch mob mentality we have right now about electron dots and thought crimes...

    But I can tell you this, if I were on his jury it would have been hung or he would have been acquitted. Even with the CDs they found in his room. They'd have to prove they were his and not his roommate's who owned the IM account sending the porn. And they'd have to prove his roommate didn't access the open WiFi. Without that proof, there's doubt in my mind he's guilty and I believe that doubt to be reasonable.

    -[d]-

    1. Re:Missing Word = Jury by aicrules · · Score: 1

      I understand why you would say that you'd be more skeptical of the evidence, but from the way it sounds to me, the defense didn't claim the CDs weren't his. They just claimed the CDs were obtained improperly and couldn't be used as evidence. I agree that you don't want to assume that even when someone is "caught red handed" that there is no possible way that there isn't another story behind it. However, the way you define reasonable, in this case, is not accurate. Stacks of CDs containing child porn being in his room is a very reasonable way to show that he was in possession of child p0rn. It's the same as drugs being found under the driver's seat of a vehicle. You could come up with a thousand stories about how it got there, but it is a reasonable expectation that you put them there if you were driving the car.

      I just don't see how you meet reasonable doubt with something found in such large quantities in his room.

    2. Re:Missing Word = Jury by spleen_blender · · Score: 1

      All the prosecution has to do is say the magic words and the jury doesn't care about reasonable doubt. It would be laughable how prone most people are to herd behavior when you say "child pornography," almost reminiscent of a species circling around its youth and trying to seem intimidating in the face of a "predator." And you people think we've evolved so much...

    3. Re:Missing Word = Jury by DeanFox · · Score: 1


      To address the article, sending porn from an IP is sufficient probable cause, in my mind, for a search warrant.

      I took the article out of context and supposed a jury trial with all evidence present. As the definition of reasonable is subjective, I feel comfortable defending my sensibilities.

      If you were ever in trouble, you'd want me on your jury. When it comes to removing someone's liberties and effectively destroying their lives, I take "beyond doubt" very seriously.

      In possession of something, in my mind, implies a certain level of ownership. I've lived with roommates and personal items get mixed up all the time both in personal and in common areas. I've dropped and left articles in other peoples cars, some of which rolled under seats. I've found things in my car I don't know where they came from or who they belonged too. The owner of the car does not, 100% of the time, translate to the owner of an item.

      The "not always" interjects doubt in my mind that I believe is reasonable. Finding the CDs within his close proximity is a good start but not proof. Because the porn was sent from his roommates IM account, that interjects someone else as a possible offender. Because of that, as a juror I would require supporting evidence that the CDs belonged to him before I'd render a conviction. Labels in his handwriting, personal files on the CD, just about anything would do. Maybe if it had gone to trial they'd have that evidence. This fantasy is based purely on assumptions from an article lacking facts.

      I think my whole point was that I don't take destroying a life lightly, even if I believe that life is probably a waste of Oxygen. And that proximity does not equal proof of possession without supporting evidence of some level of ownership.

      MHO
      -[d]-

  45. Re:How about writing an accurate headline by itsthesmell · · Score: 1

    That's a fine straw man you have there but an accurate headline would read: Kiddie Porn = Probable Cause. The ruling simply means that having an open WAP does not preclude PC. Try reading the article rather than the headline before whipping yourself into a righteous fury.

  46. Maybe it's just me... by Cleon · · Score: 1

    I'm not all that outraged about this, to be honest.

    "Probable Cause" is not a conviction; all it means is that the cops were able to convince a judge that there was a reasonable suspicion that something illegal was going down. If kiddie porn is being transmitted from a given IP address, yes, I think that's plenty of justification for going in and searching the premises.

    Again, this is not a conviction. If Perez had been convicted based solely on the logs of kiddie porn coming from his IP, I'd be singing a much different tune. Instead, the cops followed legal procedure; they detected an illegal activity from a residential IP address, and asked the judge for permission to search the residence. There, they found additional evidence, and used it to convict Perez.

    --
    Gifts for Geeks - Stuff that really matters!
  47. Authority of the article cited by likerice · · Score: 1

    why is it that tech blogs et al never provide even rudimentary citations to the cases they cite? failing to do so certainly makes it difficult to assess the validity of the oft-times sensational legal claims made therein.

  48. indeed by N3wsByt3 · · Score: 1

    I completely agree with your analysis. Apart from the question whether it is probably cause or not (or in all cases; imagine open wap becoming ubiquitous, one might conclude differently in the future), that was that courts' current vision on it.

    It was the CD-stack that did him in. Legally speaking, he would have had a better case if it had just been on his HD.

    --
    --- "To pee or not to pee, that is the question." ---
  49. Slashdot should set a higher standard... by StressGuy · · Score: 1

    for their editors.

    I've seen this with what appears to be increasing frequency lately. Slashdot publishes and article very suggestively worded ("ex-employee downloads sensitive nuclear data for Iran", "Open-WAP implies probably cause", etc.). Then, you read the actual article and see a somewhat different story. Take the present case, The open-WAP was not the probable cause here. The discovery of child porn associated with the WAP was. Is this enough evidence to convict? NO, of course not, it's an open portal so anyone could have used it. Is is enough to justify a closer look? Hell yes.

    And what did they find? Multiple DVDs worth of child porn.

    C'mon guys, I know you're better than this.....drop the loaded headlines, OK?

    --
    A goal is a dream with a deadline
  50. subject by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you were advertising on your front lawn with a big sign that you have kiddy porn and show some graphic pictures do you think the police would need much to get a warrent to search your house? Thats why this defense should fail.
    They had probably cause to get a warrent.

  51. Title is horribly misleading by lostatredrock · · Score: 4, Informative

    The title of this summary is horribly misleading...now I know this is slashdot so no one RTFA, but I happend across it by other means this morning, the ruling was not that having an open WAP is probable cause for kiddy porn, the ruling was that an open WAP was no defense against a finding of probable cause.

    In this case they found that kiddy porn had been sent to someone else from this guys IP, they used this fact as probable cause to search his room were they found cd's full of kiddy porn.

    So this is not saying that the police can barge into someones house just because the have an open WAP, it is saying that if someone has an open WAP and something illegal is done via that open WAP then the police have probably cause to search the location of the WAP and I think this is perfectly reasonable, we are talking about probably cause here not conviction, I would have a problem if someone was convicted on just the evidence of a IP address period regardless of the presence of an open WAP, but I do not have a problem with this being considered cause.

    In a somewhat applicable analogy it is like getting a warrant to search an apartment after witnesses claim a man in that apartment had shot someone on the street, true the man might not be the apartment owner, but the fact that part of the crime did happen in the apartment is certainly probably cause to search the apartment.

    1. Re:Title is horribly misleading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you said probably cause several times.. did you do this on purpose?

  52. Illegal Search? by jellie · · Score: 1

    Wait a minute... shouldn't the lower court have ruled it an illegal search?

    To make an analogy (albeit somewhat of a stretch): Suppose "Joe" owns a coffee shop with a computer, and has a pile of copied music/movies in a storeroom. Someone walks in and uses his own Yahoo account to send child pornography from a flash drive. The FBI traces the IP address (not the Yahoo account!) to me and obtains a warrant for a search. They can't find the images on the hard drive (let's say it's write-protected) but finds the illegal/pirated CDs/DVDs. And they charge him for that.

    Or the situation could be hidden child pornography in Joe's house. It should be the same. And yes, the evidence is illegal in both cases, and child pornography is despicable. But aren't the initial grounds for the warrant at fault?

    I'm assuming the lawyer tried that with the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, but must have been unable to bring that up due to a technical reason. Obviously, he or she is a lawyer, and I'm not.

    1. Re:Illegal Search? by jmac1492 · · Score: 0


      To make an analogy (albeit somewhat of a stretch): Suppose "Joe" owns a coffee shop with a computer, and has a pile of copied music/movies in a storeroom. Someone walks in and uses his own Yahoo account to send child pornography from a flash drive. The FBI traces the IP address (not the Yahoo account!) to me and obtains a warrant for a search. They can't find the images on the hard drive (let's say it's write-protected) but finds the illegal/pirated CDs/DVDs. And they charge him for that.

      To get a search warrant, the police need to go to a judge and say, "We think there's that Mr. X committed the crime of Y, and there is evidence to prove that at location Z. We think this because of reasons 1, 2, ...n. Together these reasons form probable cause for a search warrant." Assuming the law works as intended (the reasons add up to probable cause), the search warrant is issued and the search happens. If the seach happens, and they find evidence at location A (not location Z), they've overstepped their search warrant and the evidence they find there is inadmissable. If they find evidence that Mr. X committed crime B (not crime Y), then that might be admissable, depending on how hidden the evidence was. (I believe the legal rule is that the evidence must be "in plain sight" which is in practice pretty much always the judge/jury's call.)
      In your example, there's probably not enough evidence to convict "Joe" because the search warrant was for a different crime. In the story, however, the cops were looking for kiddie porn and found kiddie porn. This is a pretty open and shut case.
      --
      Jenny's got a new number! 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    2. Re:Illegal Search? by onemorechip · · Score: 1
      I'm curious. How far does this go? I know that a warrant must be specific as to the location to be searched and the type of evidence being searched for, but if "Joe" murdered someone just before the police arrived with their warrant, and stashed the body in a locker with a padlock ("not in plain sight"), could they then arrest "Joe" and use the evidence (the body and "Joe"'s fingerprints on the padlock) against him? The evidence was not covered by the warrant, nor was it in plain sight, yet a heinous crime was committed.


      pretty much always the judge/jury's call


      Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I think a jury can never decide if evidence is admissable or not. A judge must either disallow the evidence, so that it is never presented to the jury, or allow it, in which case the jury can only decide, as a factual matter, the relevance of the evidence to the case.


      IANALBIWAPTOTV (but I've watched actors play them on TV)

      --
      But, I wanted socialized health insurance!
    3. Re:Illegal Search? by jmac1492 · · Score: 0

      If there's evidence still visible (say, a pool of blood on the floor, or on "Joe"'s hands or something), then it's fair game to open the box. If Joe's acting suspicious about the contents of the box, and one of his associates has gone missing, then they can go get another warning. Anything else is the judge/jury's call.

      --
      Jenny's got a new number! 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    4. Re:Illegal Search? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If what they had a warrant for could have been in the locker it is admissible. If it couldn't have been than no. Police try to make sure that a warrant lists something small so they can look everywhere.

      One example I heard of, they had a warrant and didn't find what was listed but did see a high end stero that matched one stolen nearby a few days earlier. If they moved it to read the serial numbers and they matched the evdence would no be admissible, however they can ask the judge for another warant since it loks like it might be the stolen one which is probable cause.

    5. Re:Illegal Search? by onemorechip · · Score: 1
      If what they had a warrant for could have been in the locker it is admissible. If it couldn't have been than no. Police try to make sure that a warrant lists something small so they can look everywhere.


      Well, I pointed out that the warrant has to list *what* is to be searched for, not only where. So even though the warrant allows them to look in the locker, I don't see how it allows them to use the evidence there to prosecute the new crime. The post I was responding to was saying (I think) that it could not. I'm not saying that poster was right. I think probably the evidence could be used, somehow. I just wondered what provisions in the legal system allow it to be used.


      The stereo would have fallen under the "plain sight" rule. The body in the locker would not. That said, I think your analogy is right, in that they would get a second warrant on discovering the body, meanwhile detaining Joe "for questioning".

      --
      But, I wanted socialized health insurance!
    6. Re:Illegal Search? by onemorechip · · Score: 1

      The visible evidence you suggest is introducing hypotheticals into my hypothetical. What if the murder was commit by poisoning, with no blood? It's already fair game to open the locker, unless the warrant is poorly worded, because they are searching the premises for evidence of another crime. What do they do once they find evidence of a new crime? Getting a second warrant does seem to be the only answer; any fingerprints they took before that point might be used in prosecuting the original crime, but maybe not the murder. And I repeat, a jury isn't involved until someone is brought up on charges, so it's always a judge making the call on evidentiary exclusion (as far as I'm aware).

      --
      But, I wanted socialized health insurance!
    7. Re:Illegal Search? by jmac1492 · · Score: 0

      I accidentally hit "Post" instead of "Quote" when writing my second message. (I couldn't post a follow-up immediately because of the Slashdot rule about a cool-down time in between posts.) I meant to address the whole judge/jury thing. I had a whole argument written up, but it got lost. Basically, I'm not sure where the line is between when the judge decides what evidence is admissable to the jury's reasoning and when the jury decides. That line is somewhere though. At the very least, the jury could vote not to convict because of a search they deemed unreasonable, even if they disagree with the judge about it. This would be an example of jury nullification.

      BTW, IANALEBIPPWOT (Either, But I Played Phoenix Wright One Time).

      --
      Jenny's got a new number! 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    8. Re:Illegal Search? by nasor · · Score: 1

      If the police have a warrant to search your house for illegal guns but find your stash of illegal drugs instead, they can still charge you for the drugs.

    9. Re:Illegal Search? by onemorechip · · Score: 1

      I don't disagree. I was just following the OP's post to a logical conclusion. That doesn't mean I'm convinced his premise was correct. But I would be surprised if there aren't some strict procedural requirements for the police to follow in such a case.

      --
      But, I wanted socialized health insurance!
    10. Re:Illegal Search? by onemorechip · · Score: 1
      I think its a very distinct line. Admissability of evidence is a question of law. Juries aren't qualified to rule on it because they are not trained in the law. They are allowed to decide if the evidence is relevant, if it is credible, and what verdict the evidence supports; in other words, they decide on the facts and apply the instructions given by the judge to reach a verdict.

      I don't know if the power of jury nullification trumps those considerations, but jury nullification happens after the fact; that is, after the evidence has already been admitted. This may sound like I'm splitting hairs, but in jury nullification, the jury is not overruling the judge on a question of law. They are saying that following the judge's instructions would lead them to an unjust verdict. Such a jury wouldn't be ruling on admissability of evidence. They would simply be choosing to disregard admitted evidence.

      But here we are, two people who acknowledge they aren't qualified, trying to iron out the fine points of a very complicated system.

      --
      But, I wanted socialized health insurance!
    11. Re:Illegal Search? by nasor · · Score: 1

      The only requirement that I'm aware of is that the police can't search in a way that's unlikely to produce the item they're supposed to be looking for. For example, they couldn't search the files on your hard drive if they're supposed to be looking for illegal guns.

  53. Open WAP may not be the issue. by Irvu · · Score: 1
    As stated in the article:

    The FBI says it found CDs with child porn in Perez's room, the only one it searched. An open-and-shut case? No, because there's a twist: the Yahoo account used to send the message belonged to a Mr. Rob Ram, according to Yahoo's records. Perez had a roommate named Robert Ramos and an open WiFi connection, but that was not enough to convince a federal judge to keep the seized CDs from being used in his prosecution. Perez entered a conditional guilty plea to the charges and received a sentence of four years and nine months.


    In this case the issue at hand is whether the physical media containing child porn that were found in his room could be used against him. The arguments with regards to OpenWEP would cover incidental usage but here he is actually in possession of physical media not just an access point that was used.

    As stated in the article the question on appeal is whether the use of the AP was sufficient grounds for a search warrant to be executed on the home. The catch is that this is different than the question of whether OpenWAP == Probable Cause. In the case of the former the issue is that someone on the network was in possession of Child Porn so the argument goes that the first, natural, place to look is the person who owns the network itself.

    If, on the other hand the latter was the case then simply having an openAP would be sufficient to trigger an investigation, that was not the case here. As such the headline and title article are somewhat misleading.
  54. So much for reasonable doubt... by Newer+Guy · · Score: 1, Insightful
    "In this case it is clear that there was a substantial basis to conclude that evidence of criminal activity would be found at 7608 Scenic Brook Drive," wrote the Court. "[T]hough it was possible that the transmissions originated outside of the residence to which the IP address was assigned, it remained likely that the source of the transmissions was inside that residence."

    Anyone else seeing reasonable doubt flying out the window with this crap decision?. The slope just got one HELL of bit more slippery!

    1. Re:So much for reasonable doubt... by maxume · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Reasonable doubt doesn't apply to gathering evidence(and never has), it applies to convicting someone on that evidence.

      The defendant was trying to get the evidence obtained in the search excluded, on the basis that anybody could have been the source of the traffic on the WAP that he owned and operated; the court ruled that as the owner and operator of the WAP, it is reasonable to assume that traffic on that WAP is a sound basis for a search. It is not a crap decision, it is perfectly reasonable.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    2. Re:So much for reasonable doubt... by Alzdran · · Score: 1

      This isn't about reasonable doubt - search warrants don't need you to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
      The defendant was trying to get out of them finding media in his house on a search warrant issued because of IP correlation - had nothing been found, there'd have been no problem for him.

    3. Re:So much for reasonable doubt... by gnasher719 · · Score: 4, Informative

      '' Anyone else seeing reasonable doubt flying out the window with this crap decision?. The slope just got one HELL of bit more slippery! ''

      Absolutely not. There _was_ reasonable doubt whether or not he was guilty. That's why the police got a search warrant. The expected outcome was (a) finding evidence that he was indeed guilty or (b) finding no evidence, which meant a good chance that someone sitting outside his house in his car did the downloading.

      A third, less likely but possible outcome is that the police find evidence for a completely different crime. That evidence _can_ be used as long as the original search warrant was justified. Well, that is just tough.

    4. Re:So much for reasonable doubt... by Asic+Eng · · Score: 1
      Anyone else seeing reasonable doubt flying out the window with this crap decision?

      No, "reasonable doubt" is for convictions, the paragraph you quote was about search warrants. For these you only need probable cause. Those are two very distinct legal concepts.

  55. Re:DVD's or CDs? by geek2k5 · · Score: 1

    Note that the article mentioned CDs and not DVDs. If you are going to talk about quantity of images stored, please read the article and get the media type correct.



    Still, even if CDs were the media being used, that is still a lot of pictures of a subject that is reprehensible.

  56. Smelly analogy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is no smell to unwanted activity on a WAP

    1. Re:Smelly analogy by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1
      There is no smell to unwanted activity on a WAP

      The "smell" is the IM's, packets to child porn sites, and whatever else is "tracable." That's why it's an analogy!

      -b.

  57. Re:If you do... by symbolic · · Score: 1

    You'll notice this funny little bit:

    Open WiFi networks represent a potential maelstrom of scum and villainy, according to some people. SCO chairman Ralph Yarro recently told the Utah legislature that the state should regulate WiFi networks, even to the point of banning free and unintentionally open networks.

    Who would know better about sco^hum and villainy?

  58. The article heading don't match the article. by kotku · · Score: 1

    The heading in the article is completely wrong. From the contents

    "In particular, they didn't buy Perez's arguments that a "mere association between an IP address and a physical address is insufficient to establish probable cause"

    The primary evidence in this case was the instant message from his IP address containing a child porn pic not the open WAP. The police then had probable cause to execute a warrant against the premises associated with the ip address. Specifically the judge ruled that the Open WAP was no defence against the previous assertion of probable cause.

    I guess the headings were added by an editor or sub-editor after the main article was written, perhapps with the view to getting a slashdotting hmmm.

    --
    The bikini - security through obscurity since 1943
  59. Settle down, two issues by mlwmohawk · · Score: 1

    The first part of the article focused on a court decision that merely said that the vicinity of an IP address of a recorded crime is sufficient to give police probable cause. I reluctantly agree with the reasoning, while slippery slopes are inviting to law enforcement, if there is indeed a provable crime linked to an IP address, it is LIKELY that it happened where the router is. That is, by definition, "probable cause." Probable cause is not a suspicion that "john doe" is committing a crime, it is a legal precedent that allows police to search a premises without a warrant because they have probable cause to believe a crime is being committed.

    Personally, I would argue that probable cause does not apply here because there is an understanding that probable cause is an "emergency procedure" that police may use to stop a crime that is in progress. Since they had enough evidence to go after the guy after the fact, they certainly had enough time to get a warrant and there was no emergency condition to violate the rights of the individual.

    The Yarro law is nonsense, even if you don't have an "OpenWap" there are so many wap systems out there with known security issues, you could easily make the legal argument that if it is criminal negligence to have an open wap, then wap companies, linksys, dlink, et. al. are criminally negligent for providing waps that are default open *AND* not providing services to maintain the security of the router for a documented period of time.

    Once there is precedent that lack of REAL security (i.e. actually preventing unauthorized illegal activity) is "criminal negligence," EVERYONE in the tech industry is in danger, and at the top of that list is Microsoft. And you know there is no way Microsoft will allow a precedent that links failed security and criminal negligence.

    If a bug in software allows criminal activity, you should be able to prove that you had no knowledge or control of the software. In fact, most EULAs explicitly state you may not disassemble the software, so you have a provable case that there is no way you could know and that the software provider is actually the one who is criminally negligent.

    1. Re:Settle down, two issues by Asic+Eng · · Score: 1
      Personally, I would argue that probable cause does not apply here because there is an understanding that probable cause is an "emergency procedure"

      Well the US constitution says: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause ... ". Wikipedia gives me "...probable cause refers to the standard by which a police officer may make an arrest, conduct a personal or property search or obtain a warrant." I may be wrong, but I don't see the emergency angle. What do you base it on?

  60. Trail of blood, but you got an excuse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is that you OJ? :-)

    1. Re:Trail of blood, but you got an excuse? by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 1

      No, its me Kato.

      --
      Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  61. Weak defense. by gorehog · · Score: 1

    Summary of the events form the article...

    Someone at IP address X which is assigned to Javier for a period of time sent kiddie porn, via Yahoo IM, to someone in New York. Somehow the FBI found out and raided the apartment of Javier. The yahoo account belonged to Javier's roommate, Robert. The apartment is raided and they are both arrested due to a collection of kiddie porn cd's they have.

    Here's the thing. Javier was maintaining an open WAP. He claims that because it is open he has no responsibility for how it is used. He claims that makes the search warrant invalid.

    IMHO the court is correct. They did not get the warrant based on the existence of the wirless access point. In fact, the wireless access point is immaterial. The warrant was obtained because kiddie porn camre from that IP address at a given time and the physical address was ascertainable. If the cops had arrived and only found two guys with no kiddie porn collection and an open WAP then there would be a case for wrongful arrest (assuming the cops arrested him in that case). In this case there was probable cause.

    There is the temptation to ask about Javier's rights here. Is he responsible for Robert's sending kiddie porn over his WAP? I dont think so. Even if he had secured it and given his pederast roommate the logon info he STILL shouldnt be accountable. His freedom to offer bandwidth should be considered a free speech issue. This is primarily because open WAP's offer a channel for protected speech and therefore we cannot engage in prior restraint of that speech. that's important. Withholding special circumstances, We, as a nation, by Constitutional law, cannot prohibit free speech just because someone MIGHT abuse it. You can tell the guy with the megaphone he cant commit slander, incite riots, or announce his intentions to kill the president, but you cannot tell the guy handing out megaphones to stop.

    The most important thing to notice about this case is slipping past everyone. The police and court know that Robert sent the offending IM. They raided the apartment and found all sorts of incrimintating stuff. Instead of assuming Javier's innocence they arrested him as well. This is the core issue. It should not be assumed that because your roommate is a pederast that you are too. The issue in this case is one that does not interest the editors at Ars Technica.

    The real issue is that Javier is under arrest and trial for sharing a room with a pederast. This kind of fascism where the laws are designed to force individuals into spies and informers continue to propagate throughout our law system. The law has no right to expect every citizen to act as a member of the executive branch, yet laws which assume the guilt of "everyone in the room" continue to pass. Put a joint in an ashtray at a party and EVERYONE's guilty. A line of coke or a dime bag with crystal meth residue? Get the paddy wagon! Your roommate in college has a cd of kiddie porn? Hire a lawyer! Scared of guilt by association? Preempt the problem and turn them in! Who cares if your right or wrong, just stay safe! The law is designed so that if you have the slightest inkling of what's going on you're supposed to turn someone else in or be held accountable as well.

    If we keep settling for this bullshit we'll slowly be conditioned into doing heinous things to innocent people.

  62. Re:DVD's or CDs? by Erioll · · Score: 1

    You're right about that one. My bad, it did say CDs in the article, not DVDs, though I agree with your final line as well, not that it should really matter about numbers. Having them at all is reprehensible.

  63. They Did Nothing Of The Kind by logicnazi · · Score: 2, Informative

    Rather they made the reasonable ruling that if someone does something illegal from your IP then the police still have probable cause to get a warrant. Hell, they probably didn't even go that far since as long as the police acted in good faith the warrant would be valid and the police likely didn't even know he had an open WAP at that point.

    Calling this proof the open WAP defense doesn't work is the dumbest thing I ever heard. It's like claiming the defense, "I didn't do it my identical twin brother did it" won't work because the police will serve search warrants on both of you.

    The police just need to have good reason to believe there will be evidence relevant to the investigation at that location. Given there is a high probability the person owning the account was using it this is a perfectly justified search.

    --

    If you liked this thought maybe you would find my blog nice too:

  64. Example of bad reporting by Ahnteis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Really, the /. summary is just an example of bad reporting. I mean, you take the story, completely twist it, and come out with something brand new. It's like some kind of bizarre transmogrification.

    1. Re:Example of bad reporting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not news, it's slashdot.org

      /Obscure?

    2. Re:Example of bad reporting by slugstone · · Score: 1

      I think you should be modded up for insightful, but since this is /. how about redundant. In other word you must be new here. :-)

    3. Re:Example of bad reporting by adavidw · · Score: 1

      You must be new here...

  65. Re:If you do... by EvanED · · Score: 1

    Who would know better about sco^hum and villainy?

    Han Solo would.

    'course, he's probably off on Corellia or something.

  66. Re:Cite your sources by teh+kurisu · · Score: 1

    Uhm, well, European gun laws tend to be a lot tighter, and several EU countries have national ID card systems. And like the other poster said, there are certain limitations on freedom of speech in certain countries, including such things as holocaust denial in Germany. Here in the UK, inciting racial or religious hatred is illegal (something I personally agree with). I would maintain, though, that freedom of speech is more respected here. Nobody gets called a traitor for opposing a war, for example.

    Thing is, freedoms are pretty variable from country to country, the European Convention on Human Rights not withstanding. Even in the UK there are different rights in Scotland and England with regard to land access, and this is something I'm quite curious about - what land access rights do USians have?

  67. Even if "they" make a law by s31523 · · Score: 1

    Even if this prompts legislation to make open WAPs illegal, most people will undoubtedly break the law since the majority of people just don't know how to make the WAP secure, or find it too bothersome. I have talked to 3 people in my neighborhood about their open WAP and the responses were: 1.) What does that mean? How do I fix it? (I helped them secure it, and about a week later they asked me to undue it because of problems). 2.) I don't care, it is a pain to setup (we know it really isn't) 3.) I have nothing on my PC for people to hack, so what do I care. Surprisingly, the majority of people have some sort of security setup (I can see a good 5 or 7 WAPs) from my house.

  68. Poor analogy by Belial6 · · Score: 1

    The gun is a poor analogy, as it is extremely rare that a gun is handed around to strangers. Given it's ability to injure, and it's inability to be used by multiple people at the same time, it is a poor choice. For a better analogy, consider using something that is commonly shared among lots of people. How about a front yard. An open wifi is privately owned, like a front yard, but there is an implicit invitation for strangers to enter. Just like a front yard.

    Should finding a picture containing kiddie porn found on someones front lawn, be allowed as probable cause for searching the home?

    1. Re:Poor analogy by VWJedi · · Score: 1

      The gun is a poor analogy, as it is extremely rare that a gun is handed around to strangers.

      OK, if you don't like that one, let's say a car. If the police could prove the criminal drove away in your car, they would certainly be looking at you and get appropriate search warrants. If they later discovered that (a) you always left your car unlocked with the keys in the ignition and (b) you let your roommate and next door neighbors use the car to run errands whenever they needed to, then the use of the car would not be very strong evidence against you, but (according to this ruling), it would still be probable cause for the warrants.

      Should finding a picture containing kiddie porn found on someones front lawn, be allowed as probable cause for searching the home?

      I think this is going way too far the other way. It would be a stretch to assume that you put the picture there. It's just as likely that it fell out of a passing car and blew into your yard.

    2. Re:Poor analogy by Belial6 · · Score: 1

      Using a car as an analogy is has the exact same problem as using a gun. Leaving keys in your car is not an implied invitation for strangers to use it.

    3. Re:Poor analogy by VWJedi · · Score: 1

      Using a car as an analogy is has the exact same problem as using a gun. Leaving keys in your car is not an implied invitation for strangers to use it.

      And who says is an open WAP an invitation to use it? It's generally assumed that "it's open because they want people to use it", but that doesn't mean you are invited.

      Going back to your "front yard" analogy, the lack of a fence or a "no trespassing" sign does not constitute an invitation to use my property. Without any signs or fences to indicate differently, you should enter my property only on clear pathways (driveway and sidewalks) and attempt to contact me (ring the doorbell) as soon as possible. "Hanging around" in my yard would be considered trespassing. ("Keep off the grass, you crazy kids!")

      Either leaving something "open / unsecured" is an invitation for anyone to use it or it isn't. You can't have it both ways.

  69. Didn't say it was a stack of pedo-porn ... by tinkerghost · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They just said it was a stack with pedo-porn. Remember screenshots from Traci Lords career are still around - and they are sill illegal in the US since she was under 18 while filming. So downloading a CD with a single shot from one of her films gets you a Pedo rap.

    Without knowing the pictures & the quantity/percentage of the images, you can't really say anything. In some cases, the source is important too. If you burn archives from usenet, I'm sure your archive is going to contain some. In that light 1 shot of a 17 year old on a full CD doesn't a Pedo case make. An entire directory of obvious children in obvious sexual positions does.

  70. Re:Cite your sources by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 1

    I'd just like to say that while I agree fully with the above statements, I am not the one who posted them, and I think the person who did post them is a dickwad for logging out before doing so.

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
  71. The problem with this reasoning by commodoresloat · · Score: 1

    As explained in this more detailed article about the issue, is that someone could harrass someone else by transmitting illegal material from an open WAP. It certainly has happened before. It's a lot harder to get away with a phony trail of blood leading to someone's door.

    1. Re:The problem with this reasoning by DragonWriter · · Score: 1

      As explained in this more detailed article about the issue, is that someone could harrass someone else by transmitting illegal material from an open WAP.


      Yes, someone could. That this is possible does not, however, invalidate probable cause for search (were this an arrest warrant, of course, that would be different: while both require probable cause, what they require probable cause of is different.) And, really, the first time a search warrant got served based on that kind of manipulation would probably be the last against that subject, as they'd right-quick figure out how to secure their access point.

  72. You've missed the point by Rix · · Score: 1

    If I leave my keys in my car for anyone to use, that means I can't use it. Which is why you never see cars with keys left in them. If I leave my AP open for anyone to use, I can still use it. At worst, I have to close it if someone over uses the bandwidth, but even then it's immediately back under my control.

    The fact that "my" IP is used for something illegal does not constitute probably cause.

    1. Re:You've missed the point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fact that "my" IP is used for something illegal does not constitute probably cause. Why not? It's "your" IP. Even if someone else could have used it, the police wouldn't know until they investigate further. Which requires a warrant. "Probable cause" is not the same thing as guilty. Even if you didn't use it for the activity in question, it's your IP so the police may want to question you to get further information. If somebody gets kidnapped from my front yard, I would expect the police would show up with a search warrant simply because it's the scene of the crime and they need to gather more evidence.
  73. You are incorrect by Rix · · Score: 1

    A warrant stipulates *where* they may search. Any evidence they find is fair game, regardless of whether they knew they wanted it beforehand or not.

    1. Re:You are incorrect by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      Wrong. You have obviously never seen a search warrant before. They are not a generic search "free pass" for the cops. It must state specifically what they are looking for, and the location.

      Look here for a quick example noting page two the Attachment A part.
      Or here for the Duke Lacrosse search warrant. Notice the "description of items being seized" section.
      Or here if you want to see the search warrnat for the Virgina Tech shooter. Notice the first blank is where they fill in the location, and the second blank under "for the follwing property,objects, and/or persons".

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
  74. WorkAround? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why advocate "open" WAP? why not just use a... helpful ESSID? like "The Key Is: fuckTheRIAA"

  75. Evidence of Police Error. by twitter · · Score: 1

    If you RTFA, it says they raided his place and found CDs of child porn. Now it also says he had a roommate and that the IM that got them in trouble was sent from his roommate's account. Which should have made them investigate him as well, but that's another story.

    Actually, the roomate is the whole story though it's difficult to get out of the Ars Technia article. Had the police searched everyone in the house, their probable cause argument would make sense - but they did not, focusing instead on the person identified by the ISP who was different from the person who committed the original offense. The evidence which should be questioned is that provided by the ISP, a name and address associated with a specific IP address and time. The original intent of the warrent was to find the person who sent a rude picture to a woman in New York, not to go on a digital fishing expedition. When the names did not match up, further investigation or blanket approval from the judge was required.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

    1. Re:Evidence of Police Error. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ali-Baba, my monitor is missing! How do I work it? I need to cut off some oxygen!

  76. where will it end? by moxley · · Score: 1

    This is such bullshit.

    The truth is that the "authorities" want every single person to be tracable every single time they use any form of electronic communication.

    An analogy:

    Let's say you live in a nice neighborhood and leave your gate to your property and some doors open. A stranger drags a child onto your property and does evil things.

    The courts blame you - saying though you didn't actually commit the crime, your failure to secure your property enabled the commission of the crime...

    This seems like an apt comparison. I think it's easy for courts to set bad precedents because of the fact that most of the people involved in these rulings barely understand the technology (if they understand it at all) and definitely don't understand the way it is actually used in the real world. If someone piggybacking a wi-fi connection can cause the owner of the router/ap to be charged with child porn - then certainly any other sort of computer offense (hacking a bank or govt website)could be blamed on them as well.

    This is wrong - it's like a presumption of possible guilt placed on you because some unknown person who probably doesn't exist may do something bad - it trumps your right to run your network as you see fit, and could even get you in trouble. WTF?!?!?

    Is this how we're going to run everything? Let the actions of very, very, very few - a comparitively infinitesimal number of people doing shitty things cause us to be under suspicion and rubber stamp probable cause? I guess that is the new paradigm in the US - especially every time someone does something "evil." You don't have a free and safe society by trying to ban everything and by putting the responsibility for criminal acts on the law abiding.

    I manage both my home network and a corporate LAN - both have wired and wireless access points, and I always secure them and instruct family and friends to do the same for their home wireless setups - but, if I or somebody else wants to run an open AP - for whatever reason - whether it is technical, {which is a whole other argument, because even with security there are going to be moments, during setups and upgrades where your security isn't on if you're testing things) or you simply want to allow your friend next door access for a day without having to go over and set up security on their laptop.

    I'm just tired to my bones of the incremental ushering in of the control grid; and this is more of the same - they don't want anybody being able to do or say anything without tracability.

  77. Another Analogy by grahamsz · · Score: 1

    I see it this sort of way:

    If you get pulled over and the officer suspects s/he smells weed then they can almost certainly get a warrant to search your vehicle. Then while searching your car they find a body in the trunk, but no evidence of drugs.

    This guy is essentially trying to argue that because the original warrant didn't turn up what the drugs they were looking for, then the body shouldn't be admissable as evidence in a murder trial

    1. Re:Another Analogy by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 1

      If you get pulled over and the officer suspects s/he smells weed then they can almost certainly get a warrant to search your vehicle. Then while searching your car they find a body in the trunk, but no evidence of drugs.

      You could challenge the search on the grounds that 'smelling weed' is a cop excuse for 'I want to have a look around', since there was no weed in evidence. The alternative is that a cop could search any car he felt like just by 'smelling weed'.

      --
      "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
  78. the EU has spoken by zaphod_es · · Score: 1

    Informative? It is crap!! Add Spain to the list of countries in the EU where there is no rule about having an open WAP. I have never heard of any such rule in any country (EU or not) until this thread. Maybe be is confusing EU with USSR?

  79. That's nice, but you're still wrong by Rix · · Score: 1

    It only stipulates what they are looking for as a reason for the search in the first place. If they find anything else along the way, they're perfectly entitled to use it. If the warrant is for the house, and there's a dead body in the shed, the warrant doesn't give them the right to search the shed (but probable cause from the smell would).

    Now, they still have to have a reason to seize anything not listed on the warrant. If it isn't immediately suspicious, they probably can't do anything about it (besides get another warrant). A bag of weed would be fair game, even if you had it hidden inside the couch, so long as a reasonable argument could be made that they were searching the couch for something that was listed on the warrant. The gun you used to shoot your mother in the ravine with wouldn't be (presuming you own it legally).

    1. Re:That's nice, but you're still wrong by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      Well, I guess that means my friend was extremely lucky that the prosecutors in his case didn't know the law as good as you.

      So according to you, cops can put down "stolen bike" on the search warrant, and then search the inside of your couch, desk drawers, and a small locked box and use anything they find as evidence?? I could see if the also found a stolen stereo (or other related items) and you are suspected of burglary. But finding completely unrelated evidence and being able to use it? What if they decided to look on your computer and find illegal software? Could they use that as evidence if they were looking for a physical object?

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    2. Re:That's nice, but you're still wrong by alphamugwump · · Score: 1

      No. They put down "stolen car", and they search the garage. Then when they trip over the body, they can get you for murder too.

      However, they couldn't go looking through your home office.

  80. ACK! That wasn't insightful. That's just not RTFA. by Dr.+Zed · · Score: 1

    The article doesn't say that the open WAP is enough for sufficient cause. The child porn being sent from the IP was the sufficient cause. What the article says is that the defendant claimed that, since the open WAP means that it didn't necessarily come from _him_ that they shouldn't have searched his place and therefore his stack of child porn CDs should be inadmissible.

    I'm of the opinion that if a crime is committed over someone's open WAP, they should be subject to a search warrant.

    I usually don't read the articles either, but then again, I don't comment about something I didn't read.

    Sorry if this was already pointed out. The comment nesting is so deep that I can't determine if anyone else responded directly to you.

  81. Re:Cite your sources by kannibal_klown · · Score: 2, Interesting

    . I would maintain, though, that freedom of speech is more respected here. Nobody gets called a traitor for opposing a war, for example.
    Yeh, over here in the states you're either "for the war" or "against our troops."
  82. Jury of Peers? by Dareth · · Score: 1

    Hey, I want a jury of peers!

    Lawyer: I think this guy is good for the jury.
    Me: Ask if he has ever read slashdot!

    --

    I only look human.
    My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
  83. WAP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tis a lesson to keep one's WAP shut.

    Argh I couldn't resist.

  84. Simple solution that doesn't really solve anything by Red_Chaos1 · · Score: 1

    I'm not going to argue the whole probable cause bit because it's already being well argued here. What I am going to do is present a simple solution to the problem of uninformed/lazy consumers with wireless rigs.
    It's really quite as simple as the companies making these routers to write software that is to be run on the PC(s) to be used on the wireless network, which would gather all the necessary data from the PC(s), and then connect to the router, setting up WPA/WPA2 with a strong password (created by the consumer, with guidance towards a required password comprised of numerals, letters, and special characters), allowed MAC list, etc. To later add (an)other PC(s), one would merely need to provide the setup software with the password set on the router to allow it to send/receive config info. Voila! A working and fairly hardened/secure wireless network.

    Now, would this actually stop the situation of the story from popping up? Not really. A WAP, open or not, is still going to have a specific IP. And if said specific IP was witnessed to be transmitting or receiving child porn, warez, or what have you, then probable cause for a warrant exists for the premises linked to that IP address. The WAP is immaterial.

  85. Now it's time.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now it's time to start loading child pron seeking Trojans onto ALL politicians computers then, isn't it?

    We can clean out this now wretched country in about 6 months!

  86. Re:Cite your sources by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In all seriousness: Can you provide links to people claiming that European countries are "more free" than the U.S.? I'm an ignorant USian and have never heard such things.
    --
    I guess you're a Christian?

    Unlike Texas for example, in Europe the 18 million atheists can hold even the highest office.

    The Bill of Rights of the Texas Constitution (Article I, Section 4) allows people to be excluded from holding office on religious grounds. An official may be "excluded from holding office" if she/he does not "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."

    This form of religious intolerance is not limited to Texas. Seven other states (AR, MA, MD, NC, PA, SC and TN) all have similar exclusionary language included in their Bill of Rights, Declaration of Rights, or in the body of their constitutions.

    In a few states whose constitutions include the text of the oath of office, the candidate must swear an oath to God. Such an oath would prevent ethical non-theists from taking office. Of course, non-ethical non-theists would have no problems with such an oath.

  87. It's worse than that. by ScrewMaster · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You get booted if you have a clue, period. Doesn't matter whether the case involves technical issues or not. Neither the prosecution nor the defense want intelligent, educated individuals on juries. They really don't, in spite of any claims they make make to the contrary, and the reason for that is simple. People that are actually capable of juggling numbers, analyzing statistical claims, and generally seeing through the ridiculous arguments both sides may try to present are simply not wanted.

    I was called to jury duty about ten or twelve years ago. I really didn't have any idea what to expect, but I was prepared to be a responsible citizen. What I did not expect was to be booted from nearly a dozen courtrooms because I answered honestly when asked, "What do you do for a living?"

    "I'm an engineer, Your Honor." I would say. In every single case, the instant those words came out of my mouth a peremptory challenge was issued for my dismissal. I tried varying it a little, "I'm a software engineer" or "I'm a programmer." No dice. I didn't really understand what was going on until later (I kinda took it personally, at the time) when an attorney relative of mine said that that was just how the system worked. One judge asked me what kind of TV shows and books I read. I said, well, I tend to like science fiction. He laughed and asked me if I meant Star Trek and Doctor Who, that kind of thing. I said, "Yes, Your Honor." Everyone else in the courtroom also laughed, but within five seconds the defense attorneys had conferred and the lead counsel spoke into his mike, "Ah, Your Honor, we'd like to dismiss this juror." Fuck. It wasn't so much that I wanted to spend some unknown number of days (or months, or years) serving as a juror but by the end of the day I was getting pretty pissed at the time I'd wasted, when I'd had virtually zero chance of ever being selected in the first place.

    I was more than a little disturbed when I saw the caliber of people that managed to survive the selection process. Housewives, bartenders, gardeners, people from all walks of life who shared one thing in common: lack of intelligence and education. I'm not picking on my fellow citizens, so don't misunderstand me here: I got to know a number of them in the hours I spent waiting for my next rejection. Most seemed to be very decent human beings ... but I had no confidence in their being able to come to a rational judgment, or be able to see through an emotional play or some other courtroom con job. All the other people like me that had technical, scientific or engineering qualifications were dismissed (at least, as many of us as could be using peremptory challenges.)

    The system (at least in the area where I live) apparently selects for the least educated, least intelligent, most easily swayed individuals for jury duty. I hope I never land in court, where my fate revolves around the understanding of a complex technical issue. I'd probably never see the light of day again.

    The only good news was that by the time they let us leave, I discovered the local McDonald's was still open and I used the eight bucks they gave me to buy a Big Mac meal with a large Coke.

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  88. Children by Old+Benjamin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The biggest problem is the classification of some people as 'children'. The day someone turns 18 it doesn't magically make them a responsible adult. The line has been set as by age, but unfortunately that means very little. In fact, society would be much better off if there was a test that determined adulthood. It should cover: Common Sense, Ability to transport oneself, Ability to house, feed, and take care of oneself, Ability to do the same for others. Generally do things which are necessary in our society. Creating this test would eliminate the arbitrary line, one which says that you can suddenly make your own decisions, smoke, etc.

    --
    "The quickest way to end a war is to lose it" -Orwell
  89. Re:Cite your sources by ravenshrike · · Score: 1
  90. Re:Cite your sources by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

    Of course, Switzerland, which has more guns per capita than the US, has one of the lowest rates in the EU. Israel also has an extremely low rate barring SB deaths. Morover, the one town in america that adopted the guns in every home approach has lower crime rate than switzeland. The US has 3 times the non-gun murder rate of Britain. Guns are irrelevant, culture and the conditioning of children in responsibility for oneself is the only thing relevant.

  91. Re:Cite your sources by ravenshrike · · Score: 0, Troll

    Pffft, all athiests are just as irrational as television evangelists, if not more so. They must activly believe that absolutely nothing created the universe.

  92. US law states that accessing open WiFi is legal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    US law clearly states that accessing unencrypted wireless is legal.

    But first, I want to address a lie that was started by Alex Leary, a reporter for the St Petersburg Times. I have been following this story since it appeared. A Benjamin Smith was never arrested by the St. Petersburg Police for unauthorized access to a computer network, never charged with a third-degree felony, never booked by the Pinellas County Sherffs Office, and never scheduled for a pretrial hearing. There was no follow up to the story because there was no trial. Alex Leary made the whole story up.

    Do not spread urban legends. Especially about the law. When you are told that something is against the law, ask which specific law? When you are told someone was arrested, ask for the booking number? Went to trial, docket number? When someone cannot answer these questions, do not believe them.

    Accessing unencrypted wireless is VERY legal.

    According to Title 18 (Crimes and criminal
    procedure) of the United States Code, Part I
    (Crimes), Chapter 119 (Wire and electronic
    communications interception and interception of oral
    communications) from

    http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/wiretap 2510_2522.htm :

    2511. (2)(g) It shall not be unlawful under this
    chapter

    http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/wiretap 2510_2522.htm
    or Chapter 121

    http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/ECPA270 1_2712.htm
    of this title for any person
    (i) to intercept or access an electronic
    communication made through an electronic
    communication system that is configured so that such
    electronic communication is readily accessible to
    the general public;

    2510. Definitions
    (16) readily accessible to the general public
    means, with respect to a radio communication, that
    such communication is not
    (A) scrambled or encrypted ;

    (B) transmitted using modulation techniques whose
    essential parameters have been withheld from the
    public with the intention of preserving the privacy
    of such communication;

    (C) carried on a subcarrier or other signal
    subsidiary to a radio transmission;

    (D) transmitted over a communication system provided
    by a common carrier, unless the communication is a
    tone only paging system communication; or

    (E) transmitted on frequencies allocated under part
    25

    http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/47 cfr25_04.html,
    subpart D

    http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/octqtr/47 cfr74.401.htm ,
    E

    http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/octqtr/47 cfr74.501.htm,
    or F

    http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/octqtr/47 cfr74.600.htm
    of part 74

    http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/47 cfr74_04.html ,
    or part 94 http://wireless.fcc.gov/rules.html of the
    Rules of the Federal Communications Commission
    http://wireless.fcc.gov/rules.html , unless, in the
    case of a communication transmitted on a frequency
    allocated under part 74

    http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/47 cfr74_04.html
    that is not exclusively allocated to broadcast
    auxiliary services, the communication is a two-way
    voice communication by radio; [The unlicensed
    spectrum used by Wi-Fi
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11 is ruled by
    part 15

    http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/47 cfr15_04.html.]

  93. Most people don't know how to use WEP/WPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I do tech support for Comcast and I constantly get people calling in for support problems who are having issues with thier wireless network. In 6 months only 3 of those people even knew that thier WiFi router had an internal web server. Only one knew how to changed the SSID and configure any type of security.

    Heck, I get a lot of customers who blame every computer issue from system crashes, misconfigured wifi (when wired pc can connect) and not knowing thier windows system login on a bad internet connection.

  94. Re:Idiocy is an excuse! by budgenator · · Score: 1

    no your not pulled over for speeding, your pulled over for cocaine falling from your friends stash in the bumper, and the cops find your stash in the glove compartment and don't even check the bumper.
    The pervert in the article had kiddie-porn, the cops had probable cause to search for kiddie-porn because his room-mate, rod-ram was sending kiddie-porn out over the internet, the open WiFi was irrelevant. If the pervert didn't have CD's full of kiddie-porn, and the only evidence was packets going to an IP address and no residual on his computer's caches, then the open WiFi could be argued to a judge or jury to establish and reasonable doubt defense.

    --
    Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
  95. What about Dynamic? by AgentFade2Black · · Score: 1
    (As always, IANAL.)

    Why didn't he try to raise the argument that some IP's are dynamic and cannot always be traced to the right place?
    It could conceivably work.

  96. Just thinking... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is stupid to have you Wire Access Point (WAP) open anyways. It is no worst than have your fly open ;)
    What about all of those free hotspots that we use, what is their responsibility?
    If you leave you WAP open and someone external uses it to surf for images or other illegal stuff how can you really prove either you or someone did it? Unless you have the untouched NAT logs with the MAC addresses from your wireless router then you can have verifiable proof that you or someone was logged on to surf the net during that time to get images or other illegal stuff. I don't think that just have something open is not probable cause unless you have verifiable proof like untouched log from the wireless router. You cannot use the logs on the ISP logs since they only see up to the router and NAT not visible to the ISP.

  97. Biased perhaps? by rm69990 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Perhaps this is a bit biased, considering there is no mention in the summary of the stack of CDs containing child pornography found in the person's room that is claiming this defence. I'm sure that had something to do with this ruling.

    1. Re:Biased perhaps? by steak · · Score: 1
      great point.

      FTFA:

      The FBI says it found CDs with child porn in Perez's room, the only one it searched. An open-and-shut case? No, because there's a twist: the Yahoo account used to send the message belonged to a Mr. Rob Ram, according to Yahoo's records. Perez had a roommate named Robert Ramos and an open WiFi connection, but that was not enough to convince a federal judge to keep the seized CDs from being used in his prosecution. basically if you live in texas and have a bunch of child porn cds in your room, saying that your roomate did it isn't a good enough defense.
  98. Reasonable doubt... by DragonWriter · · Score: 1

    ...is not an issue when the question is the validity of a search warrant.

    It would be an issue at trial, except that the defendant here entered a guilty plea (though it was conditional, because he was challenging the validity of the warrant which produced the physical evidence.)

  99. Ok, but.... by crhylove · · Score: 1

    What if the porn SAYS she's 18?!? How was I supposed to know until I downloaded it?

    --
    I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
  100. Re:Cite your sources by fyngyrz · · Score: 1
    They [atheists] must activly believe that absolutely nothing created the universe.

    Why must we believe anything of the sort? (a) we weren't there, so we don't feel any need to make up stories about it, (b) the fact that we hold no belief in any god or gods doesn't address universe creation in any fashion that I am aware of, (c) lacking belief in a god or gods in no way implies a lack of belief in the universe or the possibility that it is the result of some (of course, unknown) process. (d) science is cooking right along, and perhaps it will provide further insight into this question; until it does, we still don't feel any need to make up stories. You might even trouble yourself to wonder why that is.

    In fact, the last time I looked at the Hubble deep space image, the idea of a god came to mind as straight-up humor. Sure some all-powerful dude put all that together. You bet. And stuck us out here on some rural limb of a mediocre galaxy. With Aardvarks, Platypus, Dodos and Octopi. Not to mention Scientologists. I laughed for about five minutes before I was able to get on with my day. :-)

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  101. bs, bullshit by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

    use both bs and bullshit

    --
    Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  102. Of course not by Rix · · Score: 1
    They couldn't reasonably be looking for a stolen bike in your couch or on your computer. As I said in the grandparent:

    so long as a reasonable argument could be made that they were searching the couch for something that was listed on the warrant. Anything that could fit in the same space as anything on the warrant is fair game, and cops (usually) aren't stupid. They'll make the warrant as broad as they can get away with, and poke around as much as they can get away with. They may add on "and any tools used to defeat bicycle locks", which would let them look in your couch and tiny box. The judge may force them to whittle it down, but if they're not in a hurry, they can game the system to give themselves maximum leeway.
    1. Re:Of course not by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      Ok, I read your post too fast and did miss the part about reasonable argument being made that they were looking for something listed on the warrant.

      It just seems like any competent lawyer could poke holes in a broad search warrant - the more specific the warrant the tighter the case. I'm sure there are certain judges that cops favor who will allow a broader range in the warrant, but if the judge who is hearing the case thinks differently they might run into trouble. I'm guessing that most warrants are thrown together quickly so they can catch whatever activity or people they suspect are in a location before circumstances change.
      On that note if a judge issues a search warrant, is he excluded from hearing the case? Conflict of interest or some such thing?

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
  103. On the other hand... by jd · · Score: 1
    ...if people suddenly became liable for open access ports, zombies running on their machines, etc, the level of spam on the Internet would plummet overnight, bulk identity theft would virtually disappear, and secure protocols would be used in meaningful ways. This would not be a bad thing.

    Seriously, though, the Open WAP seems to have been a failed attempt to prevent a search which, according to other posters, turned up a LOT of highly illegal material which had been identified as having been downloaded to that IP address. The only way this could be compared to a school shooter would be if a homocidal gunman decided to advertise that all their firearms were for rent in an effort to claim the police had no cause to believe the gunman was the one who fired them.

    "Probable cause" isn't the best system possible. It gets far too many who are innocent, and lets off far too many who are guilty. It's certainly open to abuse, and there's plenty of evidence that it has been abused. I would love to see more effort put into devising a better system, rather than just patching an inherently flawed approach. Patches only get you so far before the bugs introduced by patching exceed the bugs fixed by the patches. However, in this case it seems to have been entirely applicable and correct.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  104. I don't think that's the way it works by Rix · · Score: 1

    I think they would have to appeal the warrant separately (to the issuing judge, not the trial judge). There would probably have to be something significantly wrong for this to go forward.

    Otherwise, regardless of how wide the warrant was, the trial judge could only throw out things definitely outside that warrant. I think. IANAL et al.

  105. WTF ? by Builder · · Score: 1

    What the fuck do long distance bills have to do with Open access points ?

    1. Re:WTF ? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      It's called a comparison
      I'll spell it out for you, in case you were being serious.
      I compared having a phone outside your house that everyone can use unrestricted to having an open, unrestricted Wifi access point. I know, comparing two communication mediums that are very similar is a little hard to follow, but I'm sure if you really put your mind to it, you can figure it out...

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    2. Re:WTF ? by Builder · · Score: 1

      Oh, sorry - I can see how I missed that.

      Maybe in future, if we compare things to other things that are alike, that would make it clearer.

      You see, comparing public provision of something with up-front-costs and no extra usage costs to something that with metered usage, and then posing the question about how you would feel about the costs is, well, stupid.

    3. Re:WTF ? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      Oh, right I forgot this is Slashdot. I should have made the comparison to a car that you kept unlocked and with the keys in it. How silly of me to not use a car analogy. Thanks for the correction!

      P.S. My phone line has an up-front cost and no charge for extra usage. Bizzare. Maybe I should get a different one so it will fit your view better?

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
  106. Re:Cite your sources by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

    "The Bill of Rights of the Texas Constitution (Article I, Section 4) allows people to be excluded from holding office on religious grounds. An official may be "excluded from holding office" if she/he does not "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."

    This form of religious intolerance is not limited to Texas. Seven other states (AR, MA, MD, NC, PA, SC and TN) all have similar exclusionary language included in their Bill of Rights, Declaration of Rights, or in the body of their constitutions."


    What you are forgetting is those laws were proposed by the people, and than voted on democratically by the people. If that is what the people of those states want, and use a democratic process to get there, what is wrong with that? Are you saying people in Europe know what is better for Texas than the people living there?? If enough people in the states you mentioned shared your view, they could democratically remove or change the law. I know, letting people say what they want and decide amongst themselves what laws they want may seem a little crazy to Europeans, but not to Americans.

    --
    "But this one goes to 11!"
  107. Re:Cite your sources by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 1

    Well, yes, I do in fact believe that absolutely nothing created the universe. And a non-atheist believes that absolutely nothing created god, which then created the universe. Either God is not a fundamental part of the universe, or we already agree.

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
  108. Re:Cite your sources by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 1

    The simplest of logic can point out that causality didn't need a cause. I don't need god to exist, I don't need him not to. Lacking any evidence of either case, I'll pick the version that requires I make up the least amount of stuff. "Nothing did it" sounds like the minimum.

    With no scientific backing, I believe that the idea of God was first conceived of when trying to get a two-year-old to shut up and go to bed.

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All