[ale] Linux apparently illegal in MA

[Robert Reese~]

> On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 00:23, Robert Reese~ <ale at sixit.com> wrote:
>
>> During its March 30th search, police seized (among other things)
>> the student's computers, storage drives, cell phone, iPod Touch,
>> flash drives, digital camera, and Ubuntu Linux CD. None of these
>> items have been returned. His personal documents and information
>> are in the hands of the state police, which continue to examine
>> them without probable cause, searching for evidence to support
>> unsupportable criminal allegations.
>>
>
> Clearly he had enough sh!t to know how to do the effort defined in
> the allegation.  The fact that he fixes computers (even ones
> suggested to be Linux) suggest that he knows more than the average
> joe (or jane). So he would be in my top ten list of suspects.

Are you suggesting he's in the top 10 people in the entire Boston area, 
including those enrolled in CS majors?  And exactly what is he accused of that 
was illegal?  Sending a mass email to the student population outing his roommate 
is not illegal.  Stupid, and probably actionable, but not illegal.  Based on the 
word of the victim spouting unsupported allegations, the detective in the case 
decided that a decade of weekend classes needed to finally be put to use in this 
case.  And succeeded in using a bazooka to hunt a squirrel.

All I can see that he might be nicked for would be the movies and probably 
music, neither of which are included in the charges for which the warrant was 
issued, and if he indeed hacked into the grading system and changed grades which 
is by far the most serious offense he may have committed.  However, all of that 
was on the word of a disgruntled roommate.  Interestingly, the self-professed 
trained and experienced "Cyber Crime Investigator" (not to mention the fact that 
he's chatted, emailed, and bought stuff online) believes that jail-breaking 
iPhones is illegal as well as "fixing" computers to use encryption.

And Det. 'Ricky Ranger', who has served just TEN warrants in sixteen years, 
charges the kid with "Obtaining computer services by Fraud or 
Misrepresentation".   Huh?  Where is THAT alleged??  He did charge the kid with 
"Unauthorized access to a computer System", a nefariously vague charge, but 
doesn't specify what computer system.  If it is the grading system, I find it 
interesting that during the detective's interaction with the Director of 
Security for I.T. at BC they go into great depth of how the kid visited a gay 
website and accessed the email system from his dorm but there is nary a word 
from the security honcho about a break-in of the grading system.  Hmmm.... I 
guess accessing gay porn is much worse than changing grades.



>> And yes, these are the same f*cking moronic idiots that arrested
>> two guys for putting up LED cartoon characters.
>>
>
> Were you paying attention back then?  It was perceived as a bomb
> threat in a post-9/11 world.  Granted these days it would probably
> go unnoticed, but back then it was touch-n-go....and not just in
> Boston (a city that lost two originating planes that hit and
> destroyed the twin towers...unless you are one of those loonies
> that believes it was an inside job.....).

Yes, I was paying attention, perhaps more than the average person (but for 
different reasons).  And it was absolutely moronic back then; as if a terrorist 
would plant a brightly-lit, colorful cartoon bomb that screamed, "Hey, look at 
me!".  It was absurdity bordering on lunacy.  A person can almost see how they 
lost those two planes in the first place.


>  Also note: that the "two
> guys" associated with the LED cartoon characters months later
> "showed much more remorse, acknowledged their roles, and
> apologized" according to the URL that you posted.

Sure, after relentless persecution and extended stays in jail.  There is little 
doubt the apologies were coerced.  Also look at the source.


> Back to Maybe-We-Need-Another-Tea-Party.. we do, but not for a BC
> student, but rather for the original reason that tea was thrown
> into Boston Harbor.

Not for the constitutional violations but for taxes?  I don't disagree we need 
to wipe out the current tax structure (and IRS) and go with a Fair Tax solution, 
but I do see the spirited relentless attacks on Constitutional liberties by 
Boston and Massachusetts to be enough reason for another Tea Party.

Cheers,
Robert~