[ale] DMCA Protests]

[Michael Barker]

Greg wrote:

> To extrapolate this to the IT world..   <rant warning...>   IF
> cyber-criminals were locked up in the maximum security prisons for at least
> 5 yrs w/ parole in addition to paying damages, IF the FBI actually
> prosecuted ALL cyber crime (cracking and corporate invasions of citizens
> privacy) and IF the FBI were capable of knowing the technology, and IF every
> person was held responsible within reason for any actions of their p.c.
> (within reason i.e.... if on a DSL/cable link you had to have a firewall of
> some sort and virus protection against being "used" by crackers / script
> kiddies) - and this specifically includes parents of "little crackers" (try
> the parents for the kid's crimes also, I mean they are allegedly responsible
> for them until they are 18 years old) THEN the Internet would be a safer
> place... but we seem to live in a world where accountability for one's
> actions are non existent and we reward cyber criminals with high-paying jobs
> in the IT business.
> 
> </rant over> In the words of John Belushi in "Animal House"... "Sorry"
> 
With freedom comes responsibility and accountability.  I agree that 
crackers should be held accountable for malicious intent.  If someone is 
merely trying to improve the security of an application or prove that it 
is not as secure as it was promoted to be, I dont see that as 
malicious.  One of the reasons Unix can be made so secure is because it 
has been through the cracking "fire".  If a law prevents this process 
for any software then we are at the mercy of the software company and 
law makers.

DMCA may be a good law for protecting us against malicious acts of 
cracking.  But in analogy should I be fined for testing alternative 
safer methods of securing my children in the car than using the car 
seats I find on the market?  The point here is that once a law is in 
place you may be forced to act against it even to find or develop an 
improvement.

I say this in the spirit of free-enterprise and capitalizim in that I 
have the right to improve goods and services over those of my peers.  As 
well I reiterate that I have the right to protect myself.

In sumary could it be that some laws are engineered to keep the control 
out of the hands of the free market.  History suggests so.

Michael

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