[ale] Linux apparently illegal in MA

[Richard Bronosky]

Hey, why don't we put the government in charge of our healthcare,
financial institutions, and choosing the CEOs of major corporations?!

On 4/18/09, Michael B. Trausch <mbt at zest.trausch.us> wrote:
> On Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:09:35 -0400
> Robert Reese~ <ale at sixit.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > 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.
>
> Pretty much.  There was pretty good indication in the application that
> the officer really didn't like the alleged criminal, either.  The fact
> that some stupid clerk thought that the warrant application was proof of
> probable cause is absolutely terrifying, I think.  The bar is
> apparently so low that it doesn't much matter who you allege did what,
> minor modifications to that application could single a warrant out for
> probably any of us on this list.
>
> The parts that angered me the most were the ones that indicated that
> use of non-FAT file systems, encryption, password protection, etc.,
> were signs that one had something to hide and must be trying to make
> life difficult for law enforcement.  I mean, seriously; I see nothing
> wrong with someone securing their computer down to the firmware if it
> can be done.  Often it can't, which is pretty sad, but it'd be nice if
> it were possible.  Hell, I think it'd be nice for there to be some way
> to re-flash firmware such that you had to supply a key just to decrypt
> the firmware to be able to boot the system, say, by having just enough
> firmware on-board to load a firmware image from some storage device
> that would have to be provided by the user.  At least then a computer
> is worthless to anyone else in the event that it is stolen, whether by
> a criminal or by LEOs.
>
>> 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.
>
> Yep.  The only thing that was confirmed by staff at BC being that those
> emails were sent, makes this whole thing look like it's sitting on
> nothing at all.  I really don't know how that wasn't caught before the
> thing was executed.  The thing even read like the cop had an agenda
> being furthered by the roommate's agenda.
>
> And even if the alleged criminal _did_ change grades in the system,
> that is for BC to file complaints for/fire him for/handle
> internally/whatever.  Obviously the staff would have to be involved in
> that.  It'd be like me calling up the police and saying that my
> girlfriend was involved in something at work of which I had no proof
> and the police carrying it all the way somewhere.  The only way I can
> think of that the roommate would have any proof is if his grades were
> altered by the accused, and then he'd be just as culpable for
> requesting it.  And yet, no mention of that in the warrant application.
>
>> 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.
>
> I am fairly convinced that the officer tried to paint as dark a picture
> as he could to the probably relatively closed-minded court clerk.  The
> only things I see that stand out in the warrant is homosexuality,
> hidden files, multiple operating systems, and encryption.  Well, shit,
> call me guilty on 75% of the above, I must be doing something nasty.
>
> I mean, yeah, he _must_ have something to hide if he's using an
> operating system that is rare (oh, nevermind the fact that it's only
> "rare" for this cop's purposes, and that companies ranging from Apple
> to IBM to Symantec to Microsoft all are aware of it; rare, indeed).
> And nevermind the fact that, well, Linux is what, the continuation of
> but one line in 40 years of development of UNIX-like systems, being the
> oldest truly common operating system family over the decades.
>
> Hey, copper-boy could extend the "multiple operating systems" argument
> to IBM and say that they must be doing something horribly wrong; they
> probably encrypt a good lot of their data, too, all over the place.
> Maybe this officer should ask his buddy at the MA State Police to raid
> the IBM buildings in the area.  There's sure to be at least one.  And
> hey, they can probably find a gay man, some dot files, at least four
> operating systems, and a good lot of encrypted data.  Maybe even more
> than four operating systems; how many operating systems _has_ IBM
> developed over the years?
>
> Someday, some idiot will think that "OMG opaque bit stream" will be
> enough to request a warrant, and some other idiot will grant it.
>
>> > 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.
>
> Indeed.  I don't know how they didn't lose their job then, and I don't
> know how they won't lose their job now.  Police are supposed to be
> knowledgeable and observant, lest they be shown to lack credibility.
> Hopefully, the EFF can mop the floor with these dolts.  They claim to
> be experts, yet know nothing, and the technical claims in the
> application---if they can even be called technical---are so inaccurate
> that by themselves I cannot see how these idiots have any remaining
> credibility.  If the BCPD officer is supposedly an expert, I don't know
> how he couldn't sniff the bullshit coming from the MA State Police
> officer, who was clearly also clueless.
>
>> >  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.
>
> And yet, people will continue to claim that "the system works."  After
> all, what's a few innocent people when we catch so many _real_
> criminals, right?
>
>> > 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.
>
> We certainly need _something_.  The level of incompetence in government
> continues to rise, and the people don't care.  The amount of trust I've
> had in government for years to actually serve me or protect squat hasn't
> been raised from nil as far back as I can remember, years spent as a
> brainwashed youth in that regard notwithstanding.
>
> 	--- Mike
>
> --
> The number of UNIX installations has grown to 10, with more
> expected.
>                             --- Ritchie & Thompson, June 1972
>

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.!# RichardBronosky #!.