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Germany Declares Hacking Tools Illegal

dubbelj writes "Germany has updated their computer crime law to declare 'hacking tools' illegal. This will place most of the professionals in the network admin and computer security fields in a sort of legal grey area. 'The new rules tighten up the existing sanctions and prohibit any unauthorized user from disabling or circumventing computer security measures to access secure data (see the law, sections 200 and following [in German]). Manufacturing, programming, installing, or spreading software that can circumvent security measures is verboten, which means that some security scanning tools might become illegal.' We discussed a similar measure in January when Australia considered the same kind of legislation. How will this affect Linux distribution in Germany, as most standard Linux distributions come with these kind of 'hacking tools' installed by default?"

2 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Reply: Well, no phreaking problem folks...HAVEF by paulmer2003 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Uhhhh, troll much?

  2. Re:Here's something legislators never learn by duckle · · Score: 0, Troll

    It's not a "fight fire with fire" issue. You don't NEED a gun to defend yourself. Plenty of people have home surveillance / security systems that keep people out without the need to own a gun. Firearms were invented with the INTENDED purpose, to kill. "Hacking Tools" actually have a positive purpose, some people just happen to use them with malicious intent. I'm aware that there are other uses for guns, I was simply stating that Hacking tools and guns are different because of their intended purpose. Let's stay focused on the issue. I was already well aware of the worlds reasoning for hating Americans. Thanks.