Build Date: Thu May 1 03:00:41 2025 UTC
Universal Studios is about as much fun as getting a summons.
-- Tjames Madison
Freedom of the On-line Press a Problem for Janet Reno
2000-03-09 23:22:22
The Privacy Protection Act of 1980 was intended to keep the police from shutting down newpapers and killing stories by journalists under the pretense of searching for evidence. Janet Reno wants to change that.
Let's say the police get a search warrant for your computer because they think you've got kiddie porn on your hard drive, or you've written e-mail that may be pertinent to a crime, or the IRS suspects you've cheated on your taxes. The police can sieze your computer and make a copy of the all files on it. They don't have to hurry to make that copy either. If they bring charges against you, your computer and its files are evidence which doesn't have to be returned until after your trial, if ever.
Let's say you're also a journalist who's writing a story about a corrupt local police department, or you've been exposing abuses of the IRS, or you've been publishing stories about a Senator's taste in prostitutes. Is the purpose of the warrant really to search for evidence of a crime, or is the purpose to silence you, to keep the truth from reaching the public, to protect some politician's indiscretions from the bright light of public scrutiny?
Part of what the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 was designed to do was to keep abuses like this from happening. It basically states that if a computer and its files are the subject of a search warrant, and the computer is used "with a purpose to disseminate to the public a newspaper, book, broadcast, or other similar form of public communication", then the police have certain restrictions placed upon them. Namely, that they can't keep the author from getting work done (they can't keep you and your computer apart from each other) and that they must only retrieve and copy data that is pertinent to the warrant being served.
With the advent of the web and the popularity of home pages as a "form of public communication", just about any computer could now fall into this category. A good thing, right? Extend equal protection under the law to everyone, make sure that people who are merely accused of a crime (not proven guilty) can go on with their lives, and make sure that police don't fish through all of your computer files looking at your entire life history while they're investigating a possible crime. If there is evidence of wrongdoing, the police can make copies of the evidence and go on their way, and make their case at your trial.
Well, according to Janet Reno, allowing U.S. citizens to have this much privacy is a Bad Thing. Now that these privacy protections apply to almost everyone's computer, she wants to get rid of these protections altogether.
After all, if you're innocent, you have nothing to hide, right?
Thanks to Eugene Leitl for the link!
T O P S T O R I E S
California Glory Hole attracts huge crowds
A glory hole at Napa's Lake Berryessa is drawing huge crowds. According to Chris Lee, the general manager for the Solano County Water Agency, the glory hole hasn't been active since 2019, and only restarted operations on Feb 4. (More...)
Republican State Senator busted after soliciting a teenage girl
Republican State Senator Justin Eichorn of Minnesota was arrested for soliciting a teen girl on Monday just hours after he introduced a bill proposing "Trump derangement syndrome" (TDS) as a form of mental illness. (More...)
Parents claim measles is not that bad after having only one child die
The parents of a Texas girl who died from the measles are defending their decision not to vaccinate their daughter. "She says they would still say 'Don't do the shots,'" an unidentified translator for the parents said. "They think it’s not as bad as the media is making it out to be." (More...)
Delusional rich man tries to fire town staff
"I'm mayor now" said write-in mayoral candidate and founder of Pirate’s Booty Snacks Robert Ehrlich after losing the election for Mayor of Sea Cliff, NY. Then he tried to take over the Village Hall and fire everyone. (More...)
Musk claims Xitter security is staffed by idiots
Earlier this month Xitter experienced a massive outage. In an interview, Musk told Fox Business that he believes the attack came from "IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area." (More...)
The Future Ain't What It Used To Be
Ideas have taken horrifying shape and rooted into our modern reality. (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
Skunk School -- Learn Why Not To Keep Skunks As Pets
There is an alarming trend in pet purchasing habits this fall. People inspired by the WWII film, "Life is Beautiful" -- the one with that annoying Italian guy -- are buying descented skunks by the millions. (More...)
Johnnie Royale's Guide to Wakes
Wakes can present problems for Bad People of the Future. (If you don't know what a BPotF is, you need to read more of the PDJ.) Sure, your friend is gone and you miss him and that really sucks; it does, I know. But all Bad People of the Future are gonna die, and they have all accepted that fact. They do deserve, however, to have one final kickass party to celebrate all the bad things they've done in the past, present and future. And you, as a friend, have to make sure that their desire for a final send off is well executed (sorry for the pun). That's just the way of BPotFdom. (More...)
Our man Daemon Agent checks out the heavy heavy sounds of crazy space surf rockers Man or Astroman?. (More...)
Suru and I were at the local supermarket recently when we found ourselves in the booze isle, surrounded by rum. Banana rum, coconut rum, vanilla rum, unfiltered run, Jamaican rum, rum, rum, and more rum. We bought one of each and started experimenting... (More...)
Paranoid Strippers & Psychotic Crack Dealers (Tales of Christmas Eve)
Christmas day, for the last 17 or so years has bored me. I find that the real fun and excitement always takes place on Christmas Eve. Every other year, it's the excitement of the metaphorical hunt instead of the kill. Otherwise, it's just plain bad craziness. (More...)
Songs Of Love And Special Things
Well, dear reader, there's no denying it: Spring has sprung. The air is pungent with the fertile aroma of Romance. And you know what goes with Romance, don't you? That's right, Lover, porn. And not just any porn, but the kind you can sing along to. (More...)