From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Fri Sep 19 2003 - 20:58:28 PDT
>I'm
>advocating realistic and proportional response to the hacking problem
>(that's not really a problem).
It is for me both as an end user and as someone whose lively hood depends
on the Internet. The only people who don't think hacking is a really big
problem are hackers (like yourself) and the ignorant. Unfortunately most
parents are ignorant in far too many ways when it comes to computers.
>If the Government put more pressure on
>Microsoft to secure their products
If the Government put more pressure on gun makers to secure their
products... follow the logic train and see the wreck it makes. It isn't
Microsoft's responsibility to prevent criminal behavior, and it certainly
has no authority to punish it. That is the Government's responsibility
on both counts.
In theory there shouldn't be ANY NEED for security measures. I also
shouldn't have to lock my house or my car in theory either. If people
would respect the law, property rights, and common decency everything
would be peachy. In regards to hacking, the best way to wake parents
(the key to a part of the problem) is to start throwing little Billy and
littly Johny Jr. into jail just like they would if they broke into a bank
"for the fun of it".
>If a kid can pick the lock of the Pentagon then the Pentagon needs to
>re-examine their security.
That's my point. The natural boundaries to big, huge, destructive
physical CRIMINAL acts are too great so they rarely happen. But
ironically one kid can fairly easily cause far more damage and harm with
a computer and Internet connection than anything even groups of cunning
grown men couldn't do in the physical world over many years.
>It used to be, what got a kid a conversation between dad and a cop
>results in felonies and
If a kid goes out and broke into 10 stores in an hour's period, I would
hope that the cop wouldn't have a stern talk with his dad/mom and leave
it at that. I want that kid to face REAL and SERIOUS consequences
because it is clear the dad/mom is a failure as a parent so pardon me if
I don't have much faith in an improvement. Of course, you think of
hacking as I think of spitting on the sidewalk. I think of hacking as a
felony offence, as bad as insider trading, stock price manipulation, wire
fraud, or any other serious white collar crime I can think of. And yeah,
I think white collar criminals are, on the whole, very under punished.
I have as much tollerance for kid hackers as I do little punks who think
torturing animals is fun and doesn't harm anybody. Both should be dealt
with in a very serious manner.
Steve
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