OT: The FBI Hacked My Computer

[Puke]

this looks neat:

http://www.introVersion.co.uk/

[Baron Grazic]

Saxon, I wouldn't worry about your Network Admin spying on you, he is probibly checking out this forum to much to notice.

[dogscoff]

In further 1984 news, check out the firrst item in this week's http://www.ntk.net

UK ISPs are now required by law to keep logs of all websites visited by each of their customers. These logs can then be accessed by the police, the UK secret services, foreign secret services, and we're not sure who else. Oh, and apparently it's illegal to talk about it too much as well...

At least they managed to quosh the measures they were considering Last month, where agencies like the post office and the food hygiene standard ppl would have been able to access your records...

[Growltigga]

Yeah, the measures being spoken about a couple of months back in Parliament were hysterical - imagine allowing the Post Office to have access to a record of all the websites visited, I can see it now 'Hmmm" says postman, "this parcel marked 'do not bend - naughty videos from Holland' must be for Mr Dogscoff as we know he was surfing certain, ahem, sites Last month"..

or what about allowing the Health & Safety people access to your internet records, "hmmm, we should go and check out Mr Wong's takeaway as we are aware he has been visiting the Asian Cockroach breeders web site"

PLLLUUUEEEEEAAAAASSSEEE

[dogscoff]

I agree, it's insane. I mean, what's next? Now that the thin end of the wedge is in, how long before every letter and parcel we send is opened and scanned at the sorting office? How long before we're all required to have mini-GPS locators implanted? How long before the police kick down your door because they found "criminal" genes in your DNA?

People just don't seem to care though: The amount of brainless morons I see on TV reacting to news like this with comments like "Well if you've got nothing to hide then you've got nothing to worry about" ... Yeah, that's fine as long as you have complete and utter faith in every single individual and organisation with access to these powers. Jeez, what if some nazi like Jean Marie LePen got into power here? ****, imagine if Hitler or Stalin had had the technology to monitor every bit of correspondance, every request for information...

I just wish the majority of the general public (in this country and, I suspect, everywhere else) wasn't so damned ignorant. Literacy and numeracy is all very important, but I really think schools should be obliged to teach things like philosophy and citizenship (ie rights/ justice/ responsibility). Of course if the government did that, they'd probably never have gotten this law passed. Maybe apathy is the price we pay for affluence: Bread & circuses...

The really sad thing is that the government can't even be honest about their reasons for bringing these laws in. Do you really think they'll catch any more pirates, terrorists and paedophiles this way? All the criminals have to do is use coded Messages rather than plain language. Hell, they probably do already - so what is the real purpose of this legislation? If they said "We want to snoop on your 'net usage because we're a bunch of paranoid, voyeuristic megalomaniacs and we're scared that the internet might actually bring about a change in society that reduces our importance in some way" then at least I might have a tiny bit of respect for them.

*Bastards*

</rant>

I'm really depressed now. It's enough to turn you into a conspiracy theorist. I'm off to the cantina to drown my sorrows...

[ August 05, 2002, 13:10: Message edited by: dogscoff ]

[Mephisto]

Dogscoff, I agree 100%.

[tesco samoa]

And who is to say who will be incharge in the future. This information gathering will grow and grow... Maybe one day there will be another Stalin in power.

Also.... I do not like the fact that this information will be used more for Marketing than catching terrorists....

[Lord_Shleepy]

"...Further, I would add that most of us have more to fear from our network administrator trolling through our computers than the FBI doing so. The network admin has fewer legal restrictions on them and almost no logistical problems to overcome. The FBI has bigger legal and computer challenges to get over. "

Oddly enough I happened across an old "Newsweek" in the break room today containing an article discussing possible oversights made by the CIA/FBI prior to 9-11. Amongst other leads that the FBI did not use to avert the 9-11 tragedy was a militant islamic Moroccan who was making odd inquiry's about how to pilot jet planes. Apparently, the feds had been investigating him from some time (monitoring email and the like) but were unable (before or after 9-11) to acquire a search warrant to allow them to snoop through his computer files. And these guys are supposedly raiding random people's hard drives for pirated copies of "Space Invaders"?! Hmm...I think not.

[Lord_Shleepy]

*struggles back to consciousness...

On the same note...why would they waste their time and money digging through millions of parcels of fruit cakes, boring personal letters, and nudie flics? Sure...governments have never been particularly careful with their money...but really...it sounds a tad boring doesn't it?

They'd be bLasted to heck by pizza delivery bombs while searching through my dirty laundry (which is only slightly pewie at best). best of luck to em if they wanna try is what i sez...

ahem...i mean

*resuming character

Our glorious citizens will never be intimidated by these humiliating searches of our personal artifacts. We will persevere, overcome, and generally surmount all obstacles in our quest for glory and... splutter....snnnzzzzz....

[Atrocities]

*Just my two cents worth*

What would you settle for? I mean think of it, a world free of crime and terrorism and all we would have to give up is the information about what web sites we visited? Hell most web sites would consider that advertising. I will admit that I don't like the idea of someone knowing every move I make on the web as I find it as appalling as I would if they tracked my car's movements with a Lojak. Freedom is inherent with privacy. Where you go, what you read, what you do is your business, and not some over zealous pencil neck geek bucking for a promotion off of reporting your transgressions to his boss in hopes that one day you will screw up. That is in my honest opinion, assuming every one is guilty, it’s only a matter of time before they are caught. No do process, just wait and bust'em heres Big Brother.

It seems to me that if we do not take measures to insure our right to privacy on the web, free from government snooping, or private company snooping, then our rights as a free people, are being limited more than they already have been in the name of security.

Truly your freedom is limited by your economic ability. If you’re a terrorist, you’re not going to be buying super expensive cars, your going to be buying bomb-making stuff. Visiting bombs how to web sites, and talking anti-life trash on forums and instant messaging. Those are the areas that I feel the government should be vigilant in. Not weather or not I visit a site with questionable or objectionable material. Branding me a criminal, Uber bad guy, evil doer, or terrorist all because they have records that I once visited a porn site, most likely by accident, but never the less I was there, therefore I am evil and will burn in hell as a Satan worshiper, is just sick and wrong IMHO. However, that is what it is coming too.

Having my email, IM, web activities, and computer monitored all because I used the words: the President is the bomb when it comes to terrorism and chemical weapons of mass destruction that could kill people visiting the white house while on vacation from Iraq.

That should raze a few flags. Let’s see how long Shrapnel will be done for now.

"Big Brother Is Watching You."

Seriously though, I do feel that some monitoring is necessary for our, and indeed, everyone’s own best interest, but monitoring everyone activities in the hopes that an occasional auditing of the records will yield an occasional bad guy, is absurd at best, and openly ripe for corruption.

"I don't like this mans political views, pull up his ISP records and see if he has done anything illegal. Oh he once visited a porn site that was shut down for having under aged people, arrest him for being a child rapist. Doesn’t matter if he is innocent or not, we will crucify him in the press, and ruin him."

That I do think would become the norm, and that I do honestly believe would reduce what little ideals we have left to ruble. So no, wide spread blanket monitoring of all ISP Subscribers is utter bull *poop* is a really bad idea.