Re: JAP back doored

[Azerail <Azerail () supersecretninjaskills com>]

On Fri, 22 Aug 2003, felix.roennebeck () gaussvip com wrote:

> Azerail wrote:
>
> > > > Why is the state of Germany trojanizing applications which may be run by
> > > > anyone on the planet? 
> > > >
> > > >     
> > > because this application was used to commit a bad crime - child 
> > > pornography.
> > >   
> >
> > And what's next?  Kazaa? IRC? (lord knows IRC can be used to
> > facilitate crime) 
> These services are monitored since years.

True, tho they've never made any guarentee of annomity.  Still, I am
just wary of the "slippery slope" inherent to this.

> > A "bad" crime is simply a way to introduce the idea
> > to the general populance with a crime that elicts support, and then
> > gradually, it's used to encompass other crimes. 
> Yes every tool can be mis-used in one or another direction. In my eyes 
> fighting child pornography justifies the step to observe a connection.

It's just that child pornography is starting to be used as a blanket
crime which is used to justify increased goverment and police
survelllience, much like terrorism.  Of course, I don't want anyone
who is guilty of a crime against children to get away with it, but I
also don't want my natural feelings regarding the well-being of
children to be used to monitor otherwise legal activies.  Citizens
possessing the means to communicate or gather information privately
is, of course, of great interest to most authories, IMO.

> > Personally, I don't
> > like the idea of a anon proxy service rolling over and not informing
> > users, regardless of the crime "some" users may have been committing.
> I totally aggree with you that the users should have been informed - 
> even if it perverts the idea of observation. It is absolutely not ok to 
> pretend anonymity and not providing it. But Drew was arguing against the 
> german government and I still think it was correct what they did: They 
> heard about a crime and tried to prosecute it.

True, it's just how they tried that concerns me.  At any rate, this
should be a leason to everyone, don't trust things outside of your
total control.


Azerail

-- 
Great men are they who see that the spiritual is stronger than any material
force, that thoughts rule the world.
                                                -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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