The CFAA makes it a crime to violate the Terms of Service of a web site. A ToS is a form of contract between the site and the user, and should fall squarly into civil law. A person who violates the ToS of a website or provider should be held accountable (in civil court) if their actions caused some sort of damage. Criminal charges and incarceration should only ever be on the table when such damage was caused with the intention of causing damage.
One of the issues here is the lack of mens rea in the CFAA. While Aaron admittedly breached JSTOR's ToS, he did not do so in a manner intended to cause damage to anybody. JSTOR's servers buckled under the load, but that shouldn't make this criminal as it wasn't Aaron's intention to overload them. Imagine if you were arrested on Federal felony charges because a water main broke while you were filling your swimming pool.
What Aaron did by utilizing the premises of MIT without consent is definitely tresspassing (at the least), but there is no reason his actions should have carried the possibility of so much prison time.
I think the rationale behind recording a police officer being wiretapping is that by recording them you are also recording whatever comes over their radio, which constitutes wiretapping in most states. IANAL.
There is more to this universe than your very limited and human concepts of good and evil. The real enemies of your existence are stagnation and oblivion, both of which are the enemies the Laughing God fights. These two forces are beyond good and evil.
You are both right and wrong here. You are 100% correct, coming from the standpoint and perspective that is available to you. For this, I respect you and give you props. Now, please allow me to explain what I mean when I say that the Laughing God I refer to is not like Loki or Coyote.
Loki and Coyote enjoy what they do and do it primarily for that reason. The Laughing God does it just for the sake of humor and has no personal desires. Anyway, all three mentioned here serve the purpose of breaking up stagnation and stalemates.
Who said their behavior is righteous? I don't believe I used the word righteous anywhere in my comment. If you are equating righteousness and divine purpose to be the same, then you are saying that the antichrist and Lucifer are righteous, since without them serving their divine purpose the events described in Revelation cannot happen.
You assume that the Laughing God picks one side or the other... Humor does not pick a side, it points out the merits and flaws of all sides to the potential benefit to all sides involved.
Who says the Laughing God has anything to do with the writings of a bunch of drugged out desert people? You are exceedingly narrow minded if you think that only "The Bible" is a legitimate religious text and that all religious and philosophical discussion should be viewed in context to it. After all, it is the oldest religious text known to man, you know, aside from the Baghavad Gita, the pyramid texts, and the Enuma Elish.
I don't see where you get that I am justifying anything... They claim to be doing this for "the lulz", as in, they are doing it in the name of humor. Humor is the one force in this universe that can never, ever, ever be evil. Humor always improves all situations, regardless of anything else.
...and this is somehow different than standing as a spectator, providing no benefit or blessing, as the world goes to hell around you? After all, Revelation specifically says that the words to the churches also apply to individuals. Maybe when you read the whole Bible you will understand. If you can't find good translations of the book of Enoch or the Gnostic gospels hit me up.
Please allow me to draw attention to something I wrote almost exactly one year ago. It is highly pertinent to this matter. More so than might be obvious with just a quick read. Pay special attention to the specific words used and how they relate to recent events. Here is a link, and below is some copy pasta, served up just for you. http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2010/Jul/340
Dear Uncle Sam:
Apparently the United States is having some issues with its “cyber command”effort. This is my way of helping you out and contributing to your so-called “home front”. I believe the following dissertation generally reflects the current stance of my community in regard to your troubles. When I say community I am referring to hackers, the modern alchemists, wizards, and artists whose fore-bearers built this great nation of technology you now stand and rely upon.
You make everything we are interested in illegal. As a result we are forced to be criminals if we want to learn the particular set of survival traits, commonly known as hacking. Sure there are “white hats” out there who possess the knowledge and skill to stop the types of attacks they, themselves, can come up with. They will happily work for you and do whatever you tell them. However, while you are sheltered within your own personal paradigmal bubble where all the children play nicely, the real world, 2.0 perhaps, awaits you outside. Out here in the real world you have been giving us the shaft in every way shape and form possible to discourage others from becoming like us.
You didn’t want more of us. You didn’t want us to do what we know is right. You wanted to use us as a resource or a munition. You make the things we are interested in illegal so those of us who chose to learn any way are under your theoretical control. We’re legally criminals so we must comply with you and do as you like or we will go to jail.
Now that you have exhausted your arsenal of fear, uncertainty, and doubt, you’ve come to realize you have some very troubling issues, the least of which is that your aging titanic, system of information exchange is at once your greatest strength and most needed crutch.
I know you like the *bottom line*, so I’ll state it here in a language you can understand: We are pretty angry about how you have treated us over the last few decades, especially since September 11 of 2001. You have made our culture illegal. Now you want us to help you. You want us to conform to your standards and ways of living, thinking, and acting so we can protect you from the machinations of foreign minds.
Do you really feel that we have any obligation or incentive to do such a thing? It benefits us in no tangible way to help you solve your mess. The more time goes on, the less and less we actually need or have any use for you.
Is it so hard to approach us with the same respect and dignity you would any other nation? After all, while we may not technically own land or have an army, we are a force you know must be reckoned with. If you would approach us as you do other nations when you are in need perhaps we would feel better about exporting our natural resources: the knowledge necessary to correctly and securely provide and maintain the infrastructure you use for well, just about everything.
I shall let this writ float along the aether, and perhaps some day, some way, it will reach some one who can do simple math.
In parting, I must give you a brief history lesson; a reminder really: This war will be no different than every other war waged with wizards.
They serve the Laughing God. There is a definite, divine purpose. You just don't understand it. This had nothing to do with causing random people harm. There are no innocent people. There are problems which are obvious to many, yet few act. Those who choose not to act are NOT innocent. They are part of the problem. You may be familiar with the Christian Bible and it's statement that "God" dislikes lukewarm people... Similar concept. Pick a side. It's better than being the terrain over which the war is fought, because terrain is just in the way and serves no purpose of it's own. It is there to be exploited.
No.... People have become complacent and instead of doing useful things with their time, like taking an active hand in their government, they are spending their time being pseudo-entertained in a digital world where nothing they do ultimately matters or benefits anyone. Furthermore, they are paying for this privilege. That money is being used for unjust things. Also, the information (think data mining) collected from observing the actions of MMO players is quite useful for many things, as it accurately models many facets of human society. It is a way to get people to be honest about how they would really prefer to act in a given situation than how they feel they have to act because of social reprisal. This is just one thing which can be learned. This information is not being used for the betterment of the human species. It is being used to generate profit, consolidate power, and exert control.
No.... People have become complacent and instead of doing useful things with their time, like taking an active hand in their government, they are spending their time being pseudo-entertained in a digital world where nothing they do ultimately matters or benefits anyone. Furthermore, they are paying for this privilege. That money is being used for unjust things. Also, the information (think data mining) collected from observing the actions of MMO players is quite useful for many things, as it accurately models many facets of human society. It is a way to get people to be honest about how they would really prefer to act in a given situation than how they feel they have to act because of social reprisal. This is just one thing which can be learned. This information is not being used for the betterment of the human species. It is being used to generate profit, consolidate power, and exert control.
Nice idea, and I am sure the government will try to use this that way, but no... they absolutely do not work for the US Government. They are illustrating a very important point and for a good reason. Just keep an open mind, open ears, sit back, and observe this educational demonstration for the human race. You are welcome to participate, but keep in mind that the only rule is that once you are "in" the "game" there are no rules except that you cannot leave "the game".
One of the things that really gets me is the idea that science and religion need to be separate. Take the evolution + Big Bang vs. Creationism debate, specifically Christian Creationism. I read a book at one point which, although fiction, pointed out something about this whole debate which made a great deal of sense to me. The book is called "Vacuum Diagrams", and is by a physicist by the name of Stephen Baxter.
In this book "God" is a group of aliens who are incredibly advanced. So advanced that their civilization finds a way to survive the heat death of the universe and the coalescence of all matter back into a z-particle, so they can "ride out" the next Big Bang. Upon doing so, they are the only intelligent life in the universe, and they go about setting in motion things like evolution and shepherding new races and civilizations by portraying themselves as deities to the young races, much like what the Vorlans did in Babylon 5.
Anyway, what I am getting at is that evolution and the Big Bang could very well be the exact method(s) a deity, as described in books like the Bible, used to accomplish what these books say they have done.
People may say science has nothing to do with love, but they're wrong.
Many people are into science because they want to help humanity, and that is a good form of love.
It seems to me more like Christianity worships death. I mean, the grand big event of their religion is primarily focused on a bunch of people dying and lots of war, pestilence, and suffering. They view this as a Good Thing(tm).
Another problem with being an openly religious scientist is that it can odd a very strong stigma for several different reasons. The main source of opposition to many scientific theories are religious groups. Take for example the controversies surrounding stem cell research, genetic engineering, cloning, some aspects of quantum physics (LHC for example), and then the general evolution/creationism stuff. Being a scientist who is opening religious can bring a (possibly unfair) stigma against you from other scientists who do work in any of these areas, or who generally agree with the work being done in these areas. The reason being that the religious side of all of these arguments hold little to no water in any logical or scientific way. So, anyone associated with such religious beliefs may very well be viewed as illogical (and thus untrustworthy in a scientific sense) by their peers.
Say for example a scientist involved in stem cell research is also a practicing Christian (the main group opposing stem cell research). Even if the scientist does not oppose stem cell research his/her peers may very well assume that he/she does if they learn of the scientist's beliefs.
and in the specific case of this article a woman's rectum and genitals were violated by The Smoking Man and his henchman so the alien's disguised as co-workers could torment her all day. This must be stopped!
Well, if you drive drunk you're likely to kill someone. As for the wrong plant, I totally agree.
If you implant microchips in someone's rectum and genitals I think that might be some form of rape or sexual harassment. Especially if you are smoking the wrong plant and drinking two beers while doing so.
Increasing the backbone bandwidth will allow for faster connections between ISPs and customers because there will be more bandwidth available between ISPs and their providers.
I was recently stopped by police because I matched the description of someone (else) they were looking for. I carry a walking stick, which is perfectly legal where I live, and I do so because I have arthritis that sometimes effects one of my knees. One of the police officers felt the need to punch me in the face and tazer me because I refused to put my walking stick down and let him search me. I was then charged for carrying a weapon (they termed my hand-carved, rather ornate walking stick a "club"), and said I resisted arrest because I blocked the punch the officer threw at me.
Earlier this week someone I know (a customer of mine) was arrested by the same precinct for DUI and public intoxication. What did she do? She drove from her house to the police station to seek help getting her room mate to leave her apartment because he was being violent. The police asked her if she was on drugs or had been drinking, and then arrested her and put her in a psyche ward. She was then charged with a DUI and possession of marijuana. They are basing this on two things. They searched her house under probable cause (domestic violence) and found some marijuana there. The psyche ward found she had smoked pot via a drug test. However, she was NOT high, and had not smoked pot, the day this happened. The officer said she seemed extremely excited or some shit like that and he thought she was on something. As it stands, they fired the police officer, dropped the DUI charge, and are still pursuing her for possession.
is it just me, or are the police in my area a bit over-zealous (corrupt perhaps)? Is this normal?
Slashdot Mirror
The CFAA makes it a crime to violate the Terms of Service of a web site. A ToS is a form of contract between the site and the user, and should fall squarly into civil law. A person who violates the ToS of a website or provider should be held accountable (in civil court) if their actions caused some sort of damage. Criminal charges and incarceration should only ever be on the table when such damage was caused with the intention of causing damage.
One of the issues here is the lack of mens rea in the CFAA. While Aaron admittedly breached JSTOR's ToS, he did not do so in a manner intended to cause damage to anybody. JSTOR's servers buckled under the load, but that shouldn't make this criminal as it wasn't Aaron's intention to overload them. Imagine if you were arrested on Federal felony charges because a water main broke while you were filling your swimming pool.
What Aaron did by utilizing the premises of MIT without consent is definitely tresspassing (at the least), but there is no reason his actions should have carried the possibility of so much prison time.
I think the rationale behind recording a police officer being wiretapping is that by recording them you are also recording whatever comes over their radio, which constitutes wiretapping in most states. IANAL.
.....I think your sarcasm detector needs checked for defects and malfunctions.
There is more to this universe than your very limited and human concepts of good and evil. The real enemies of your existence are stagnation and oblivion, both of which are the enemies the Laughing God fights. These two forces are beyond good and evil.
You are both right and wrong here. You are 100% correct, coming from the standpoint and perspective that is available to you. For this, I respect you and give you props. Now, please allow me to explain what I mean when I say that the Laughing God I refer to is not like Loki or Coyote.
Loki and Coyote enjoy what they do and do it primarily for that reason. The Laughing God does it just for the sake of humor and has no personal desires. Anyway, all three mentioned here serve the purpose of breaking up stagnation and stalemates.
Who said their behavior is righteous? I don't believe I used the word righteous anywhere in my comment. If you are equating righteousness and divine purpose to be the same, then you are saying that the antichrist and Lucifer are righteous, since without them serving their divine purpose the events described in Revelation cannot happen.
You assume that the Laughing God picks one side or the other... Humor does not pick a side, it points out the merits and flaws of all sides to the potential benefit to all sides involved.
Who says the Laughing God has anything to do with the writings of a bunch of drugged out desert people? You are exceedingly narrow minded if you think that only "The Bible" is a legitimate religious text and that all religious and philosophical discussion should be viewed in context to it. After all, it is the oldest religious text known to man, you know, aside from the Baghavad Gita, the pyramid texts, and the Enuma Elish.
I don't see where you get that I am justifying anything... They claim to be doing this for "the lulz", as in, they are doing it in the name of humor. Humor is the one force in this universe that can never, ever, ever be evil. Humor always improves all situations, regardless of anything else.
...and this is somehow different than standing as a spectator, providing no benefit or blessing, as the world goes to hell around you? After all, Revelation specifically says that the words to the churches also apply to individuals. Maybe when you read the whole Bible you will understand. If you can't find good translations of the book of Enoch or the Gnostic gospels hit me up.
Please allow me to draw attention to something I wrote almost exactly one year ago. It is highly pertinent to this matter. More so than might be obvious with just a quick read. Pay special attention to the specific words used and how they relate to recent events. Here is a link, and below is some copy pasta, served up just for you. http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2010/Jul/340
Dear Uncle Sam:
Apparently the United States is having some issues with its “cyber
command”effort.
This is my way of helping you out and contributing to your so-called
“home front”. I believe the following dissertation generally reflects the
current stance of my community in regard to your troubles. When I say
community I am referring to hackers, the modern alchemists, wizards, and
artists whose fore-bearers built this great nation of technology you now
stand and rely upon.
You make everything we are interested in illegal. As a result we are forced
to be criminals if we want to learn the particular set of survival traits,
commonly known as hacking. Sure there are “white hats” out there who possess
the knowledge and skill to stop the types of attacks they, themselves, can
come up with. They will happily work for you and do whatever you tell them.
However, while you are sheltered within your own personal paradigmal bubble
where all the children play nicely, the real world, 2.0 perhaps, awaits you
outside. Out here in the real world you have been giving us the shaft in
every way shape and form possible to discourage others from becoming like
us.
You didn’t want more of us. You didn’t want us to do what we know is right.
You wanted to use us as a resource or a munition. You make the things we are
interested in illegal so those of us who chose to learn any way are under
your theoretical control. We’re legally criminals so we must comply with you
and do as you like or we will go to jail.
Now that you have exhausted your arsenal of fear, uncertainty, and doubt,
you’ve come to realize you have some very troubling issues, the least of
which is that your aging titanic, system of information exchange is at once
your greatest strength and most needed crutch.
I know you like the *bottom line*, so I’ll state it here in a language you
can understand: We are pretty angry about how you have treated us over the
last few decades, especially since September 11 of 2001. You have made our
culture illegal. Now you want us to help you. You want us to conform to your
standards and ways of living, thinking, and acting so we can protect you
from the machinations of foreign minds.
Do you really feel that we have any obligation or incentive to do such a
thing? It benefits us in no tangible way to help you solve your mess. The
more time goes on, the less and less we actually need or have any use for
you.
Is it so hard to approach us with the same respect and dignity you would any
other nation? After all, while we may not technically own land or have an
army, we are a force you know must be reckoned with. If you would approach
us as you do other nations when you are in need perhaps we would feel better
about exporting our natural resources: the knowledge necessary to correctly
and securely provide and maintain the infrastructure you use for well, just
about everything.
I shall let this writ float along the aether, and perhaps some day, some
way, it will reach some one who can do simple math.
In parting, I must give you a brief history lesson; a reminder really: This
war will be no different than every other war waged with wizards.
They serve the Laughing God. There is a definite, divine purpose. You just don't understand it. This had nothing to do with causing random people harm. There are no innocent people. There are problems which are obvious to many, yet few act. Those who choose not to act are NOT innocent. They are part of the problem. You may be familiar with the Christian Bible and it's statement that "God" dislikes lukewarm people... Similar concept. Pick a side. It's better than being the terrain over which the war is fought, because terrain is just in the way and serves no purpose of it's own. It is there to be exploited.
No.... People have become complacent and instead of doing useful things with their time, like taking an active hand in their government, they are spending their time being pseudo-entertained in a digital world where nothing they do ultimately matters or benefits anyone. Furthermore, they are paying for this privilege. That money is being used for unjust things. Also, the information (think data mining) collected from observing the actions of MMO players is quite useful for many things, as it accurately models many facets of human society. It is a way to get people to be honest about how they would really prefer to act in a given situation than how they feel they have to act because of social reprisal. This is just one thing which can be learned. This information is not being used for the betterment of the human species. It is being used to generate profit, consolidate power, and exert control.
No.... People have become complacent and instead of doing useful things with their time, like taking an active hand in their government, they are spending their time being pseudo-entertained in a digital world where nothing they do ultimately matters or benefits anyone. Furthermore, they are paying for this privilege. That money is being used for unjust things. Also, the information (think data mining) collected from observing the actions of MMO players is quite useful for many things, as it accurately models many facets of human society. It is a way to get people to be honest about how they would really prefer to act in a given situation than how they feel they have to act because of social reprisal. This is just one thing which can be learned. This information is not being used for the betterment of the human species. It is being used to generate profit, consolidate power, and exert control.
Nice idea, and I am sure the government will try to use this that way, but no... they absolutely do not work for the US Government. They are illustrating a very important point and for a good reason. Just keep an open mind, open ears, sit back, and observe this educational demonstration for the human race. You are welcome to participate, but keep in mind that the only rule is that once you are "in" the "game" there are no rules except that you cannot leave "the game".
You are mistaken. Here, I have a song to aid in your re-education: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApsVWUGcnqg&feature=related
Just wait until they try to get a patent for this. ;)
One of the things that really gets me is the idea that science and religion need to be separate. Take the evolution + Big Bang vs. Creationism debate, specifically Christian Creationism. I read a book at one point which, although fiction, pointed out something about this whole debate which made a great deal of sense to me. The book is called "Vacuum Diagrams", and is by a physicist by the name of Stephen Baxter.
In this book "God" is a group of aliens who are incredibly advanced. So advanced that their civilization finds a way to survive the heat death of the universe and the coalescence of all matter back into a z-particle, so they can "ride out" the next Big Bang. Upon doing so, they are the only intelligent life in the universe, and they go about setting in motion things like evolution and shepherding new races and civilizations by portraying themselves as deities to the young races, much like what the Vorlans did in Babylon 5.
Anyway, what I am getting at is that evolution and the Big Bang could very well be the exact method(s) a deity, as described in books like the Bible, used to accomplish what these books say they have done.
Christianity worships love for God is love.
People may say science has nothing to do with love, but they're wrong.
Many people are into science because they want to help humanity, and that is a good form of love.
It seems to me more like Christianity worships death. I mean, the grand big event of their religion is primarily focused on a bunch of people dying and lots of war, pestilence, and suffering. They view this as a Good Thing(tm).
Another problem with being an openly religious scientist is that it can odd a very strong stigma for several different reasons. The main source of opposition to many scientific theories are religious groups. Take for example the controversies surrounding stem cell research, genetic engineering, cloning, some aspects of quantum physics (LHC for example), and then the general evolution/creationism stuff. Being a scientist who is opening religious can bring a (possibly unfair) stigma against you from other scientists who do work in any of these areas, or who generally agree with the work being done in these areas. The reason being that the religious side of all of these arguments hold little to no water in any logical or scientific way. So, anyone associated with such religious beliefs may very well be viewed as illogical (and thus untrustworthy in a scientific sense) by their peers.
Say for example a scientist involved in stem cell research is also a practicing Christian (the main group opposing stem cell research). Even if the scientist does not oppose stem cell research his/her peers may very well assume that he/she does if they learn of the scientist's beliefs.
Xenu.
What about freedom and liberation???
and in the specific case of this article a woman's rectum and genitals were violated by The Smoking Man and his henchman so the alien's disguised as co-workers could torment her all day. This must be stopped!
Well, if you drive drunk you're likely to kill someone. As for the wrong plant, I totally agree.
If you implant microchips in someone's rectum and genitals I think that might be some form of rape or sexual harassment. Especially if you are smoking the wrong plant and drinking two beers while doing so.
Increasing the backbone bandwidth will allow for faster connections between ISPs and customers because there will be more bandwidth available between ISPs and their providers.
I was recently stopped by police because I matched the description of someone (else) they were looking for. I carry a walking stick, which is perfectly legal where I live, and I do so because I have arthritis that sometimes effects one of my knees. One of the police officers felt the need to punch me in the face and tazer me because I refused to put my walking stick down and let him search me. I was then charged for carrying a weapon (they termed my hand-carved, rather ornate walking stick a "club"), and said I resisted arrest because I blocked the punch the officer threw at me.
Earlier this week someone I know (a customer of mine) was arrested by the same precinct for DUI and public intoxication. What did she do? She drove from her house to the police station to seek help getting her room mate to leave her apartment because he was being violent. The police asked her if she was on drugs or had been drinking, and then arrested her and put her in a psyche ward. She was then charged with a DUI and possession of marijuana. They are basing this on two things. They searched her house under probable cause (domestic violence) and found some marijuana there. The psyche ward found she had smoked pot via a drug test. However, she was NOT high, and had not smoked pot, the day this happened. The officer said she seemed extremely excited or some shit like that and he thought she was on something. As it stands, they fired the police officer, dropped the DUI charge, and are still pursuing her for possession.
is it just me, or are the police in my area a bit over-zealous (corrupt perhaps)? Is this normal?