FBI wants computer repair shops to report Kazaa, DeCSS users? [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Excerpt:
"The FBI primarily is looking for purveyors of child pornography, software
used in the piracy of movies and music, and threats to national security."

---

X-Clips-URL:
 <http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Feb/05/ln/ln01a.html/?prin
 t=on>
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2004 11:53:51 -0500
From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah () shipwright com>
Subject: FBI asks Hawaii computer shops to help fight cybercrime

<http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Feb/05/ln/ln01a.html/?print=on>

The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Thursday, February 5, 2004

FBI asks computer shops to help fight cybercrime

By Peter Boylan
 Advertiser Staff Writer

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cyber Crime Squad have
been approaching O'ahu computer-repair specialists, network consultants and
software developers and asking them to report any overtly criminal activity
they find in customers' computers.

Owners of computer repair shops reported that FBI agents have come calling
for at least a year.

Some business owners and network security consultants favor the approach,
which enlists old-school police beat work to combat high-tech crime.

Others - like the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union
in Hawai'i and some local computer users - are wary of the tactic, saying
it comes dangerously close to violating a person's privacy rights.

Special Agent Arnold Laanui said the FBI is taking a proactive approach to
fighting computer crimes, which are ranked third on the agency's list of
priorities, behind protecting the country against a terrorist attack and
deflecting espionage.

"The computer arena is so broad and such a part of everyday life," Laanui
said. "A good chunk of crimes out there have some sort of computer-based
nexus to them."

The FBI primarily is looking for purveyors of child pornography, software
used in the piracy of movies and music, and threats to national security.

...
_______________________________________________
Politech mailing list
Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)