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Strict German Computer Crime Law Now in Effect
SkiifGeek writes "With little fanfare, section 202c of the German computer crime laws came into effect over the weekend. Worryingly for Security professionals, the laws make the mere possession of (creates, obtains or provides access to, sells, yields, distributes or otherwise allows access to) many useful tools illegal. A similar law was proposed for the UK, however it was modified prior to passing through parliament due to the outcry from the industry. Phenoelit, KisMAC, the CCC, and the Month of PHP Bugs are just some of the relatively high profile projects and groups to have already taken measures to remove or modify content under this law."
My understanding of Godwin's Law is that you have to compare someone or something to hitler or nazi's and so on. Mere mentioning them wouldn't invoke it. Otherwise, how could you have a discussion over which tank was better during ww2 or whatever.
I'm not sure it was invoked here.
"The use-mention distinction" is not "enforced here."
A criminal tool is something that a DA can stand in front of twelve randomly chosen citizens with no particular knowledge, and convince them that, not only that it can be used as a criminal tool, but that the defendant should have known that and did it anyway.
Disregarding the fact that the "comparison" case really is a corollary to the law (the law it self just states that the probability of such a comparison occurring approaches 1 with thread length), you have to compare someone/something that is obviously not comparable. Not every comparison violates Godwin's law. In fact, the law's intent is precisely to not let such comparisons become devalued, so that they can still be usefully applied when warranted.
"When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
Except that possession of 'criminal tools' such as lock picks, bump keys, etc if one is not a licensed locksmith is a criminal offense.
That depends on where you are. I live in Canada. In a former life I was a Sheriff. And I had a nice set of lock picks, a very slick pick gun, and a couple of slide hammers. Most of which were stamped "law enforcement use only". I was never a locksmith, though....
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
The THC (The Hackers Choice) group has already been forced to discontinue some of it's best projects due to this absurd law.
http://www.thc.org/Silenced are THC's Credit, Hydra, Scan and War-Drive. Hydra will be the most missed, as it was one of the best authentication bruteforcers. Not dwelling on this defeat to freedom of information and the security community, I suggest everyone in the security community begin resisting this trend towards silencing the messenger of insecurities.
We should be working to create new tools and better means by which to distribute information and code, both securely and anonymously. The foolish politicians and companies who think they can dare enforce security by ignoring the problem and silencing individuals should be shown that this strategy does not work. This is yet another challenge to all the security researchers and programmers, will you allow others to dictate your creativity?
--postmodern
I am German and I am potentially affected by the new law as I publish exploit code from time to time. I have written a blog entry about it, including a translation of the relevant section and some thoughts about the consequences.
OS Reviews: Free and Open Source Software
1) Going to the Einwohnermeldeamt of the place you've been living before, spend several hours in waiting rooms full of seriously pissed off people and get a written "deregistration" confirmation.
2) Going to the Einwohnermeldeamt of the new place, spend several hours in waiting rooms full of seriously pissed off people, show said confirmation, and also give them the copy of the registration form you hopefully bought in some store because you *can't* get it at the Einwohnermeldeamt.
3) Then there's some payola, they update your ID (yes, we have *real* ID and don't just use our SSN or driver's license, this is Germany after all) with a small sticker and a rubber stamp, and you're done.
4) Even though you've just told the Government your new address, you have to repeat that process also for the registration of your car, your GEZ fees (a mandatory fee that's used to finance state television), the tax office, and many others I won't quote because my anger really starts coming up now.
Oh, and all of this costs money. Yeah. Depending on where you live, the fees easily add up to a three-digit amount. And did I mention that you have to perform all of this in the first three days after your move? If you don't, you get prosecuted and pay a pretty hefty fee. I mean hey, I don't have FUCKING ANYTHING ELSE TO DO in the first days in the new house, like, say, unpacking boxes or reassembling the furniture that I have someplace to sleep.
I'll stop now, but you can see that Germany bureaucracy really sucks balls, and can drive you mad. Actually it does so almost always whenever you have to deal with it and many people do outrageous things to not be forced to deal with it.
And, being German, I don't see why people mod you Funny, because I think you're pretty much spot on. Then again, at least it's not boring here.
Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?