[ale] [OT] encryption rights under attack - was Reignited: Linux apparently illegal in MA

[Kenneth Ratliff]

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On May 23, 2009, at 7:08 PM, Robert Reese~ wrote:
> A silent voice harks no dissent.  Which is exactly WHY I get bent  
> out of shape,
> and so should every American when this happens.  Not getting bent  
> out of shape
> and voicing it is exactly why cops being 'douchebags' happens a lot  
> more than
> people believe.  ;cD

Yeah, yeah. It's easy to be high and mighty and indignant. Do it too  
often, and you might need to go visit a pre-school and relearn the  
tale of one kid who cried wolf a little too often.

If the court had also gone toward douchebaggery, my dissent would have  
been quite loud, though not applied in this venue. I don't believe in  
impotent nerd rage over an internet forum or mailing list. I much  
prefer having words with my elected representatives and my fellow  
constituents. It tends to be a little bit more effective. People in  
positions of authority acting like douchebags is an ever present  
problem. It's hardly a character flaw that is unique to law  
enforcement. I'm more concerned with the people that they're  
answerable to. Most judges have their heads on straight, thankfully.  
It's the one's that don't that I worry about, because they're the ones  
who will be setting the legal precedent... not the officer who's mommy  
didn't tell him she loved him enough as a kid.

> Do you actually believe that?  I used to.  This can, and has,  
> happened _here_ in
> the U.S.  Just three months ago, and only three months after the  
> above ruling on
> RIPA Pt. III, we get this decision:
>
> http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10172866-38.html
> <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10172866-38.html>

Man, I knew what this issue was before I even clicked on it, and it's  
just one more instance of sensationalist reporting.

It's really hard to infringe on rights which you've given up. The dude  
was read his Miranda rights, and like a moron, he waived them and  
copped to downloading child porn. He was not beaten, the border guard  
did not threaten him with detainment if he didn't decrypt the hard  
drive. Sorry, but I'm not going to bat for a pedophile, especially one  
who's apparently intelligent enough to use encryption, but not  
intelligent enough to dismount the encrypted volume before he passes  
through a border checkpoint. He did wrong, he screwed up and cheated  
himself out of his rights. I have no problem with a court order  
requiring him to decrypt the drive before the grand jury, because he's  
already given up his 5th amendment rights on that score. I'd be  
surprised if the appellate court didn't uphold the ruling.

The only thing that I would see to make a case out of is a 4th  
amendment issue, especially given ICE's legal right to seize laptops  
for an indefinite period of time. But truth be told, if I'm a  
pedophile, I'd rather lose the laptop with the drive still encrypted  
and refuse to turn over my passphrase (that would be asserting my 5th  
amendment rights) than to waive them and be facing a grand jury  
indictment for child pornography.

I know this is hard to hear since it isn't lockstep with your blind  
fanaticism, but please try to choose object lessons that will stand up  
to scrutiny. Bad guy incriminates himself through own stupidity is not  
a failure in the system. The object lesson you want this to be is that  
'big bad government tramples on individuals rights.' What is instead  
is 'stupid criminal shoots self in foot.' This guy should be getting a  
darwin award, not a vigorous defense from crypto proponents.

> Coincidence?  You tell me.  The Fifth Amendment may will survive  
> once this gets
> higher into the appeals courts.  But it never should have gotten to  
> *any* court
> in the first place

Right, because letting a federal agent see you have kiddie porn on  
your hard drive, and then admitting that you downloaded kiddie porn is  
something that should in no way ever see the inside of the court.

Seriously, do you actually pay attention to the entire case or do you  
just pick out the parts that you don't like and ignore anything which  
may be detrimental to your point of view?

> Don't hold out HOPE for the Obama administration to save us.  Back  
> during

Of course not, I voted Republican like a good Georgian.

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