It appears there is actually no law explicitly forbidding it currently on the books in the US, but it may be considered to be a common law offense in certain jurisdictions.
Assisted suicide is called out as illegal in some places, though--were the state where this happened one of those places, charges could conceivably be brought.
Hrm. Rather a dearth of legislation about suicide out there, isn't there?
So long as suicide is called a crime, encouraging someone to do so would be a crime. If you told someone to rob a bank, could they arrest you as being an accessory to grand larceny?
More legislation is not the answer--it will just make things convoluted.
"Bullying" is not really prosecutable unless it has some actual effect on the person being bullied, e.g. simple assault, petty larceny, slander, etc.
At present, yes, it appears that "inciting someone to commit suicide" is not specifically a charge, but a minor alteration to an existing law--e.g. putting something of that sort under "manslaughter"--would more than suffice to prevent that particular effect in the future. Thus, it would also cover situations where someone convinced someone else to commit suicide in person, rather than passing some new unneeded law.
-You- may practice proper procedure, but some contractor/low level drone/mindless bureaucrat might leave his system on screensaver (or just lock the console) when turning his back for a moment, which would allow for someone to snatch the laptop and run.
And while your program may indeed wipe the drive after 10 incorrect guesses, there's one very significant weakness to that proposition: the program must be -running- in order to do so.
So, in this case, the method of attack would be as follows: find someone with a laptop full of information who has it activated in an accessible location. Grab said laptop and remove it to a location where the RAM can be accessed per this hack. Then, after grabbing the key, remove the hard drive, hook it to a system you have control over, and either use the key to open the drive or, if the key is corrupted or incomplete, use the key as input to crack the drive conventionally--bearing in mind that if it is mounted in such a way that your fancy program does not activate, the program cannot erase the drive.
Kinda funny that that entry says "Death code isn't very useful, but writing it is an interesting hacking challenge on architectures where the instruction set makes it possible"...I guess we have a practical use for it now, huh?
True enough, but you don't need 100%--you need "enough to get the key out reliably"
I'm sure if you brought in someone with a degree in thermodynamics, they could give you an equation for entropy in the data system over time that you could leverage into your recovery algorithm and give you some sort of confidence number in the data.
And even if you can't get the -whole- key, if you can get at least part of it, it'll be easier to crack the system by several orders of magnitude.
Someone mod parent 'informative'--that's exactly what I was looking for.
I'd be very interested in hearing the results for the newer RAM types....
So if you've got physical access to the system, it's an extremely doable prospect to carry out this hack--and even moreso if you have specialist equipment.
This leads to another question: would it be possible to have a reasonably portable version of this 'embedded platform'? As in, something where you could open a system, power it off, pull the chip, put it into some handheld or portable box that you're carrying with you, then hit the switch and read?
If so, that might be a -very- useful thing to have in certain situations.
There's probably some equation involving entropy that talks about that...
I was thinking the construction of the RAM would be a factor--different brands would have different dies and suchlike, which would have an effect on how fast the system entropizes upon power removal.
It has as much relevance as any other scheme that requires physical access.
Probably a lot more relevant to, say, systems on private/secure/confidential/secret networks that may be left on pretty much all the time, but the possibility exists that someone could possibly gain access to 'em at some point, Mission: Impossible style.
It is possible; I remember reading about a class of programs in the Jargon File that exploited certain machine code instructions to clear out the whole of the machine's memory, including itself.
So how long does this information persist in the RAM? They say "seconds to minutes" but -how many- seconds? And what brands/types of RAM have longer or shorter latency?
The final distribution -is- the public beta, with MS. Everyone knows that no first-release MS OS works properly, and to wait until after at least the first service pack.:-/
There's already government-mandated 'correct' usage of spraypaint. Read a can of any aerosol sometime: it's a federal offense to use it in a manner other than indicated on the packaging.
It's to give 'em something to prosecute 'huffers' on, o'course, but it's still a government-mandated 'approved' use, meaning that, yes, your canned-air-flamethrower made from a lighter strapped to a canned air or hairspray can that you've been using to toast mosquitoes is illegal.
It's coming to the point where warning labels are on absolutely everything.
Why not just have a paper you sign at graduation (and one you sign for your child when it's born) that's a coverall warning for all those little common-sense things that you should know:
"Life contains hazards. Use at your own risk."
Yes, some warning labels are necessary--but really, anyone with a grain of common sense and the least bit of personal responsibility should be able to take care of themselves as regards addictions, whether electronic, chemical, or psychological--if they end up addicted, then let 'em have some help with it, by all means, but don't annoy the rest of us with asinine warning labels on everything.
Besides, at this point, who actually reads warning labels anymore? They're everywhere; to actually bother reading 'em is too much of a hassle for most people. They just fade into the background--does anyone here know how many different "Surgeon General's Warnings" there are for packs of cigarettes? Or that there's more than one?
Slashdot Mirror
It appears there is actually no law explicitly forbidding it currently on the books in the US, but it may be considered to be a common law offense in certain jurisdictions.
Assisted suicide is called out as illegal in some places, though--were the state where this happened one of those places, charges could conceivably be brought.
Hrm. Rather a dearth of legislation about suicide out there, isn't there?
In Britain, they'd probably serve her with an ASBO...but legislating these things is never really a good idea.
Seems to me that naming your daughter "Megan" is just -asking- for trouble.
Perhaps we should just outlaw the name "Megan" and be done with it--no more problems.
Accessory to manslaughter, if you like.
So long as suicide is called a crime, encouraging someone to do so would be a crime. If you told someone to rob a bank, could they arrest you as being an accessory to grand larceny?
You mean parents should actually -parent-? What a concept!
I agree entirely. To allow young children online without even half an eye on the monitor is stupid, not to mention neglectful and irresponsible.
Hrm. You'd be outlawing trolling?
As if that would ever work.
More legislation is not the answer--it will just make things convoluted.
"Bullying" is not really prosecutable unless it has some actual effect on the person being bullied, e.g. simple assault, petty larceny, slander, etc.
At present, yes, it appears that "inciting someone to commit suicide" is not specifically a charge, but a minor alteration to an existing law--e.g. putting something of that sort under "manslaughter"--would more than suffice to prevent that particular effect in the future. Thus, it would also cover situations where someone convinced someone else to commit suicide in person, rather than passing some new unneeded law.
-You- may practice proper procedure, but some contractor/low level drone/mindless bureaucrat might leave his system on screensaver (or just lock the console) when turning his back for a moment, which would allow for someone to snatch the laptop and run.
And while your program may indeed wipe the drive after 10 incorrect guesses, there's one very significant weakness to that proposition: the program must be -running- in order to do so.
So, in this case, the method of attack would be as follows: find someone with a laptop full of information who has it activated in an accessible location. Grab said laptop and remove it to a location where the RAM can be accessed per this hack. Then, after grabbing the key, remove the hard drive, hook it to a system you have control over, and either use the key to open the drive or, if the key is corrupted or incomplete, use the key as input to crack the drive conventionally--bearing in mind that if it is mounted in such a way that your fancy program does not activate, the program cannot erase the drive.
Interesting...but I don't speak German, and only know the english version. ;-P
Yes, that's it. Thanks.
Kinda funny that that entry says "Death code isn't very useful, but writing it is an interesting hacking challenge on architectures where the instruction set makes it possible"...I guess we have a practical use for it now, huh?
Just call it "Project Hindenberg" and announce a commitment to the creation of a hydrogen-based infrastructure.
You'll be all set.
If they're the same weather balloons that the NOAA folks use, they float well above commercial air traffic lanes.
True enough, but you don't need 100%--you need "enough to get the key out reliably"
I'm sure if you brought in someone with a degree in thermodynamics, they could give you an equation for entropy in the data system over time that you could leverage into your recovery algorithm and give you some sort of confidence number in the data.
And even if you can't get the -whole- key, if you can get at least part of it, it'll be easier to crack the system by several orders of magnitude.
We all know what happens when 99 red balloons are floating in the summer sky.
If they're carrying data, well, so much the worse...
Someone mod parent 'informative'--that's exactly what I was looking for.
I'd be very interested in hearing the results for the newer RAM types....
So if you've got physical access to the system, it's an extremely doable prospect to carry out this hack--and even moreso if you have specialist equipment.
This leads to another question: would it be possible to have a reasonably portable version of this 'embedded platform'? As in, something where you could open a system, power it off, pull the chip, put it into some handheld or portable box that you're carrying with you, then hit the switch and read?
If so, that might be a -very- useful thing to have in certain situations.
Hrm, especially if they were in hibernate mode to start with....
My question isn't how to read 'em, but how to keep 'em from being read.
Heating the chips would probably help, but that has its own problems.
There's probably some equation involving entropy that talks about that...
I was thinking the construction of the RAM would be a factor--different brands would have different dies and suchlike, which would have an effect on how fast the system entropizes upon power removal.
It has as much relevance as any other scheme that requires physical access.
Probably a lot more relevant to, say, systems on private/secure/confidential/secret networks that may be left on pretty much all the time, but the possibility exists that someone could possibly gain access to 'em at some point, Mission: Impossible style.
It is possible; I remember reading about a class of programs in the Jargon File that exploited certain machine code instructions to clear out the whole of the machine's memory, including itself.
Can't remember the name of 'em, though.
So how long does this information persist in the RAM? They say "seconds to minutes" but -how many- seconds? And what brands/types of RAM have longer or shorter latency?
The final distribution -is- the public beta, with MS. Everyone knows that no first-release MS OS works properly, and to wait until after at least the first service pack. :-/
Looks like a case of autocorrection by the MS Word spellcheck to me. ;-p
As regards the last Vista-SP1-related-problem article, I found this that mentions said problem and how to solve it, if anyone needs that.
There's already government-mandated 'correct' usage of spraypaint. Read a can of any aerosol sometime: it's a federal offense to use it in a manner other than indicated on the packaging.
It's to give 'em something to prosecute 'huffers' on, o'course, but it's still a government-mandated 'approved' use, meaning that, yes, your canned-air-flamethrower made from a lighter strapped to a canned air or hairspray can that you've been using to toast mosquitoes is illegal.
It's coming to the point where warning labels are on absolutely everything.
Why not just have a paper you sign at graduation (and one you sign for your child when it's born) that's a coverall warning for all those little common-sense things that you should know:
"Life contains hazards. Use at your own risk."
Yes, some warning labels are necessary--but really, anyone with a grain of common sense and the least bit of personal responsibility should be able to take care of themselves as regards addictions, whether electronic, chemical, or psychological--if they end up addicted, then let 'em have some help with it, by all means, but don't annoy the rest of us with asinine warning labels on everything.
Besides, at this point, who actually reads warning labels anymore? They're everywhere; to actually bother reading 'em is too much of a hassle for most people. They just fade into the background--does anyone here know how many different "Surgeon General's Warnings" there are for packs of cigarettes? Or that there's more than one?