RE: excuse me, I'm trying not to puke

[jaundice frijoles <jaundice@kosmos.net>]

[: hacktivism :]

>"In a democracy in general, we can't have the police everywhere," said
>Michael Vatis, director of the FBI's
>National Infrastructure Protection Center

Oh what a shame that we can't be overrun by police. I sure wish I had
someone to "protect & serve" me 24/7... oh how I dream of the comforts that
reside in a police state. *cough*fascist*cough*

>Part of the challenge: Many teens still consider computer mischief
>harmless. A recent survey found that 48
>percent of students in elementary and middle school don't consider
>hacking illegal.

A. Hacking isn't illegal. Depending on your definition, "cracking" may be
closer to what you're talking about, and if so, why not use the correct
word?  B. I wonder what question was asked of these ELEMENTARY school
students to begin with... Is the collective opinion of 8-year-olds' views on
network security really a measure of our society as a whole?

>"It's always interesting that they don't see a connection between the
>two," Chmura said. "They just don't get it."

I don't think the children are the only ones who "...just don't get it"

>The FBI's Vatis tells students, "Do you think it would be OK to go
>spray-paint your neighbor's house or the grocery
>store down the street? On a website, it's the same sort of thing. It's
>somebody's storefront or an extension of
>themselves."

Is my neighbor imposing totalitarian, fascist views on the general public
through mind-numbing corporate-owned media outlets? Is the grocery store
down the street selling people food at a price that makes it seem like
eating is a privilege to begin with? If so, yes, I probably would feel
inclined to spray paint a few things on their facades.

>"They do sometimes realize that when they're copying someone's product,
>it's not just that 5 cent disk, but
>someone's work that they're copying," she said. "I think they do come to
>appreciate the fact that it's somebody's
>salary they're stealing."

No comment here...

>Vatis cites a long list of cyber crimes perpetrated by minors, including
>attacks on Defense Department computers
>in 1998 and the February jamming of major websites such as Amazon.com
>(AMZN) and eBay (EBAY).

Journalistic integrity means NOT CREATING FACTS to further your story.

>He tries to drive home the consequences of hacking, including the
>resources it drains from his center as law
>enforcement scrambles to find who is responsible at the outset of an
>attack.

Interpretation: Uht-oh.. police brutality is harder over the internet. We
can't let it be known that there might actually be someone smarter than us
out there.

>Authorities "don't know if it's a terrorist or a foreign military,"
>Vatis said. "It diverts very scarce resources of
>people who are trying to focus on crime, warfare and terrorism."

Authorities don't want to admit they just don't know what the hell they're
doing.. If you don't know the difference between a 12-year-old script kiddie
scanning your webserver for holes, and a full on terrorist attack from
foreign lands; you have no business trying to differentiate between the two
to begin with.

>And children aren't the only ones in need of training. College students
>and parents also are frequently undecided
>about what crosses an ethical boundary in cyberspace, where anyone can
>download pirated musical recordings.

As always, our brain-washed peers need to have their bios' flashed by uncle
sam and be TOLD what is right & wrong.

>Price, whose daughter uses Napster, the music-sharing service considered
>a threat to the recording industry,
>feels that computer ethics are an important issue.

(insert pinch of sarcasm) Comments like these make your article really keep
your article interesting!!!

>"I think it should be part of the discussion at the school," Price said.
>"It's only going to get bigger."

<sarcasm> Again, kudos on the in-depth quotes & interesting "facts"! Of
course it should be a discussion at schools, the public mind is much easier
to control at a younger age. </sarcasm>


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