Be afraid, be very afraid...

[Dustin Decker]

On Thu, 14 Nov 2002, Jeremy Fowler wrote:

> House votes life sentences for hackers:
> http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-965750.html
> 
> <rant>
> I can't stand the fact that our Republican Government is trying to strip away
> our rights one by one in the name of national security. [snip]

Oh brother... I just knew when I saw the bill that this would certainly be 
the type of thing we would see cropping up.  Read the bill, in particular 
this part:

SEC. 105. STRENGTHENING PENALTIES.

`(5)(A) if the offender knowingly or recklessly causes or attempts to 
cause serious bodily injury from conduct in violation of subsection 
(a)(5)(A)(i), a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than 20 
years, or both; and

`(B) if the offender knowingly or recklessly causes or attempts to cause 
death from conduct in violation of subsection (a)(5)(A)(i), a fine under 
this title or imprisonment for any term of years or for life, or both.'.

The folks responsible for http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-965750.html also 
made use of that favorite of media terms - hacker.  Don't even get me on 
that tall soap box.

In the unlikely event that someone somehow _DOES_ manage to kill someone
with a computer, I don't see any reason life in prison shouldn't be on the
table.  This whole thing is going to be another media spin going nowhere.  
It's not like hacking into your own systems to verify that they are secure 
will get you thrown in jail or anything....  THINK!

Dustin

-- 
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| Dustin Decker                     |
| dustind at moon-lite.com       *-----------------------------------------*
| http://www.dustindecker.com |                                         |
| Moon-Lite Computing         | No sense being pessimistic.             |
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