Amendment to Rule 41!

[dellawee 13]

Soon the law enforcement agencies will be legally allowed to hack an unknown number of computers located in an unknown part of the world with a single warren. Its true that the FBI has already done this type of hacking before but coming December 1st they will be legally allowed and as a result the information will be admissible in court. Worst of all this rule change didn't require congresses approval and shows how much the judicial branch is willing to over step there bounds. It is to late for congress to stop this rule from going into effect because there all off for the holidays but that doesn't mean there is nothing we can do. If you live in the US you can still call your representatives and ask them to support the stop mass hacking or tell them to halt the rule change. The amendment to rule 41 affects everyone on the internet but especially those who use a VPN or tor. If you live in the US and you don't know who your representatives are the EFF can help you.

 

I value my privacy and with all of these new laws and rule changes I feel its impossible to keep anything a secret from the large eye of the government. Sometimes I feel like curling up in a ball in the corner of my house after burning all my devices because at least then I can mutter to myself without someone listening. 

[FromtheWalls 83]

Yep, this amendment is extreme and some senators are making a last-ditch effort to delay it six months, the goal obviously being to stop it completely within that time. They have introduced a bill called Review the Rule Act of 2016 for this purpose and it can be found here: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr6341 Here is a press release where some of its supporters' arguments are covered: http://www.lee.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2016/11/bipartisan-bicameral-bill-would-delay-changes-to-government-hacking-powers

 

Edit: Noticed the links were goofed up, so I fixed them.

[serenacat 83]

"hack an unknown number of computers located in an unknown part of the world"

It goes beyond just Apple and Microsoft PCs and Linux servers, "computers" includes all the mobile phones which are deliberately deprived by vendors or carriers of any security updates for well known or dark web traded N day exploits, and the unprotected routers used in recent DDoS breakdowns of financial functions.

 

Mobile phones are now more likely to be useful for identity theft, blackmail, revenge by planting "evidence", personnel selection and monitoring, etc. In general, governments seem more concerned with monitoring and possibly disrupting and setting up citizens than protecting them from government corruption and factionalism, Turkish style purges, competitive corporate espionage, criminal fraud, vendetta using mercenaries, etc.

 

The USA is just one of the "diseased states" spreading the contagion. The antidote may become the breakup of any global market for US software or Chinese phones into defensive quarantined fragments.

 

[Valerian 20]

The countries whose computers end up getting hacked are very unlikely to consider such actions legal, regardless of what US law says.

[Ricnvolved1956 51]

Serenacat-- The U.S is a diseased state and it's going to get worse. A LOT worse. And I'm not referring to Trump, though that's bad enough. I'm referring to the NSA/CIA/FBI/State Dept./corporate "intelligence" black hole. Take a look at Rodrigo Duterte of The Phillippines recently telling Amerika to go f*ck itself. He won't be the only national leader to do that. Other countries are getting tired of Amerikan hegemony and bossiness.

 

Make no mistake about it, folks-- There is a resurgence of McCarthyism at work here in the U.S and it's being practiced by both sides of the political spectrum. The liberal left is in a full blown self delusional hysteria over the election result. "Alt right" and "fake news" have become extremely shrill buzz phrases. Russia, Vladimir Putin, RT/Sputnik are oh-so-convenient whipping boys. They delude themselves by thinking their collective hysteria projects strength and resolve when all it really does is prove their weakness and insecurity. Those of us on the left who chose to buck the prevailing party/ideological orthodoxy and not vote for Clinton are being demonized with incredible bared-fangs ferocity. But it's okay, I can take it. I used to think it was only the insane, lunatic, conservative right wing that lived in a political echo chamber. Trump's election is proving that the liberal left has it's own political echo chamber. Many liberal commentators I used to genuinely admire and hold in high regard I have now lost all faith and trust in. It's depressing, it's discouraging.

 

There is a quote by George Orwell in the signature of another poster here in the forum (I apologize for not remembering who it is) I had not heard before. The quote has been on my mind quite a bit since becoming aware of the liberal left hysteria and I humbly provide it here-- The further a society drifts from truth, the more it hates those who speak it.

 

(Sorry if this is too far off the topic of this thread, but serenacat's post prompted me to extend her thoughts on (what I hope is) a relative tangent.)

[jonnymoon96 4]

Amendment IV the 4th amendment of the U.S Constution

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

 

 

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment

 

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fourth_amendment

 

 

 

when it comes to the government hacking into computers they should be required to get a search warrant like as if they are going to search a house otherwise your information should be protected but the U.S Government should not hack into computers that are not US citizens as they would not be under U.S Jurisdiction Nor should it Arbitrarily hack into U.S Citizens Devices if there is no evidence of a crime there is a reason there is the Reasonable Suspicion standard