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Not just in Canada: Laws criminalizing "hacking tools" [priv]
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 15:30:20 -0300
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Hacking Tools: Digital Version of Ancient Analog Law Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2005 15:15:09 -0400 From: Vicki Richman <vicric () vicric com> Reply-To: vicric () vicric com Organization: http://vicric.com To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com> References: <430DF8FB.7010908 () well com>Subject: [Politech] Details on Canada's new push on wiretaps, hacking tools [priv]
Date: Thu, Aug 25, 2005 at 10:59:39AM -0600 Declan McCullagh (declan () well com) writes:
Subject: UNLawful access Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 19:26:38 -0400 From: Yasholomew Yashinski <yashy () mail yashy com> To: yashy-hack () mail yashy com, declan () well com What exactly is a "Hacking tool"? Like a knife, gun, or hammer, almost all software tools can be used for good or evil.
South of the Canadian border, many states have had statutes against possession of "burglar's tools," or devices that could conceivably facilitate forcible entry into a locked house or motor vehicle. See, for example, New York state Penal Law 140.35: http://www.nycourts.gov/cji/3-PenalLaw/140/140-35.pdf Or N.J.S.A. 2C:5-5b: http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/criminal/charges/burgtools2.pdf Or California Penal Code Section 466 http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/pen/466-469.html Often dating back to before the Civil War, such laws have attempted only to keep homeless drifters out of insular suburban and rural communities and have been ignored in urban centers. They have often been rendered moot by a civil-libertarian defense or just by enlightened judges refusing to enforce them. Such tools are routine to the typical home-owning middle-class, which has been unaware that laws against them exist. The Canadian statute outlawing "hacking tools" likewise seems aimed only at a class of persons, not at a particular action or event. -- Vicki Richman vicric () vicric com http://vicric.com _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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- Not just in Canada: Laws criminalizing "hacking tools" [priv] Declan McCullagh (Sep 10)