Message-ID: <200306112330.h5BNU5NA002117@caligula.anu.edu.au>
From: avalon at caligula.anu.edu.au (Darren Reed)
Subject: Re: USDOJ BRAINWASHING TECHNIQUES

In some mail from sockz loves you, sie said:
> 
> i agree entirely.  when hackers start to kill millions of people, maybe THEN
> can we turn around and say "okay, its illegal".  the governments of our
> nations commit far worse crimes on a daily basis than we do as citizens.

Do you seriously subscribe to this logic ?

Do you even understand how flawed this approach is ?

It is this sort of stupidity that gives rise to suicide bombings
in the middle east that dominate the news every day.

Put simply, two wrongs do not make a right.

> citizens who
> are concerned about their civil rights, or are naturally curious about the
> world around them.  this is why hacking should be decriminalised.

There are ways and means for citizens to feed their curiosity.
For example, there is something called "Freedom of Information" that
is recognised by many Governments.  You may not like it that not all
information is available through FoI but there are good reasons for
that but a naive player may not understand that.

Don't like the way yours implements it or lack thereof?

Get active politically and try get it changed.

No, you more than likely won't be able to do that from the comfort of
your own home, you'll need to go out and talk/meet with people and
discuss things.

Similarly, if you don't like the way the Government does something else,
get active and do something to make it change.  Don't just sit there and
use it to justify hacking because that won't change or fix anything. How
much are you prepared to do to make the world a better place if you think
there are really problems with it, hmm ?  Here's a hint: hacking into any
network or sending email here is not going to change a thing.

> its a white
> collar crime that wouldn't even be an issue if it weren't for corporations
> whining about losing money.

Ok, you sound like the typical hacker who does not understand what
the word "responsibility" means or that actions have consequences.

Hacking is no different to "break and enter".  The means might
be different but that's about it.  Unauthorised entry.  Unless
you're going to say that "break and enter" should be a white
collar crime, too?

> okay sure, there have been a few major digital
> protests in the past, but how are these different from real life
> demonstrations?

Because you will often find, enshrined in law, the right to assemble
and/or protest.  The typical real-life protest involves 1000s of like
minded people getting together as a show of collective strength.  I'm
not sure what you are referring to by digital protests, but if you're
alluding to denial of service attacks then the difference is quite
simply that they're orchestrated by relatively few (less than 10.)
Simulating 20,000 people with a robot is nowhere near the same as
getting 20,000 people to do something of their own _free will_.

> is not resistance, freedom of information, and activism a fundamental
> right of being human?  this is no more the DOJ's world than it is my
> world, so why should there be a different set of rules for Government
> and People?

The difference is in how you want to see them implemented.

You want to engage in activism with unauthorised activity and gain
information through improper channels using methods that are more
representative of criminal action than good citizens.

Get smart about what you're doing.  Well, first I suppose you need to
grow up and mature, then maybe, with time, you'll understand and be
able to be smart rather than stupid about what you do to achieve the
correct goals.

> oh and darren, no i wasn't joking about encouraging the young hacker to
> develop his skills.  its a legitimate option.

Then young hackers should practice and hone their skills in an
environment where they do not impact on anyone else, just like
responsible people do with other weapons.  Maybe you should create
a "hack" network, charge people $X per month for access and let
people do what they want there.  Do some basic admin and install
various software packets, etc, to make it "interesting".  Oh, and
make it isolated from any and all other networks.



In short, there is nothing cool or right about hacking and that
message needs to be conveyed through whatever means to impressionable
young people as part of their upbringing to ensure they grow up and
have a reasonable amount of respect for each other in the growing
digital world around them.

Darren

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