Great Poem
Posted by | Filed under Politics
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I did not speak out
because I was not a communist.
When they came for the social democrats,
I did not speak out
because I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists
I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews
I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew;
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
Episode III
Posted by | Filed under Politics
Update: Bruce Schneier has a well-thought-out viewpoint from a security analyst’s perspective. Well worth a read.
I have a confession to make. I have always believed in good and evil. Since I was a little kid, reading Tom Swift books and the Chronicles of Narnia, through my teenage years, and until now, I have believed in good and evil; a Dark Side, and a Light Side. And just as in the Chronicles of Narnia and Star Wars, I believe that ultimately Good always wins out. It so often seems like the underdog – it obeys rules, does what’s right – it has ethics. How can Good triumph over Evil when the deck is so obviously stacked in Evil’s favor? And yet, somehow it does. It always does.
Yesterday I became more politically active than I have ever been. Oh, I’ve been involved in "government" for a long time, but it’s always been in a much smaller context – student council in high school, Student Government and Fraternity leadership in college, etc. But yesterday I became politically active on the national scale. I wrote a letter to the two Senators for Washington State, and I had it faxed to them along with 19,999 other US citizens. All of this in protest of a so-called "rider" that was tacked onto H.R. 1268.
The most angering thing about this whole situation is the fact that the practice of attaching riders to important bills, such as appropriation bills, not only exists, but that it’s commonplace, and by virtue of that fact, essentially considered ethical. Well, I personally don’t think it is. I think it’s subversive and just plain wrong. if I had known about this practice sooner I would have gotten angry sooner, believe me. I have been told that some states, including Minnesota and Indiana, actually have laws preventing riders. This just seems logical to me, though it strikes me as odd that anything logical is coming out of Indiana.
But the reason I got into this whole mess is because of the Real ID Act. There’s a little more information about it on my previous post, and I’ll have some more links throughout the rest of this post. I got really mad when I realized the extent of the Act and the fact that it was a rider. And if you know me, when I get angry, I fight. So I did everything I could think of. I posted to my blog, I wrote the Senators, I posted a message to the New Graduates Social discussion group at Microsoft and urged people to take action, whether they opposed or supported the Act. And people did. I got some feedback from friends and people on the discussion group saying they had written letters in protest as well. I was ecstatic. Reading over the long list of comments on the UnRealID site (through which I sent my fax to the Senators), I was happy to see how many people were pouring their outrage out in a meaningful way. I was also a little mortified by the way some people had written – bad grammer, inappropriate language, lack of respect for the Senators. Sheesh, no matter how you feel, you have to treat them with respect. How else do you expect them to listen to you? But I digress; a majority of the comments were good, lucid, well-thought-out arguments pleading for reconsideration of the bill.
My happiness was short-lived, however, when I learned this evening that the Senate had unanimously voted for it. Now, I understand that the larger issue at hand was the appropriations bill for spending in Iraq. And I understand that by not voting this in, we’d be delaying funding. But I wish one Senator would have had the balls to stand up and say, "No! I will not stand by and let a subversive piece of Orwellian legislation slide through along with this much-needed appropriations bill. I’m sorry, but don’t blame me – I would have voted for the bill, if it were solely an appropriations bill. If you’re looking for someone to blame, blame Senator Sensenbrenner, who saw it fit to tack this totally inappropriate piece of legislation to an appropriations bill." Honestly, after reading Senator Durbin’s rather rousing statement against the Real ID Act, I half expected him to vote against the bill. But no. Not one Senator opposed it. Why not? Only the Senators themselves know the real answer. But I submit that for many, if not most of them, it was a political move. None of them wanted to have a vote against a war appropriations bill come and bite them later in their careers. But it makes me wonder where they draw the line. If an Act mandating that all Islamic people wear a gold crescent on their bodies for identification purposes, would they have stood by and let it pass, fearing the possible political repercussions?
Tonight I feel like we’re coming to the end of Episode III in the Star Wars trilogy. The Republic is destroyed, the noble Jedi decimated, and the Emperor has taken control of the galaxy. My only hope is that the Luke, Leia, and Han of our story will be as successful as they were in Star Wars. And fortunately, we do have a Luke, Leia, and Han.
The governors of many states oppose this act, if for no other reason than the costs it imposes. In Durbin’s statement, he reports that "Every Senator has received a letter opposing the REAL ID Act from the National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Council of State Governments, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. They have said clearly, this REAL ID Act will ‘impose technological standards and verification procedures, many of which are beyond the current capacity of even the Federal Government.’"
Also, there may be legal grounds to attack this. In Congressional Research Service’s analysis of the bill, there is a footnote (number 92, page 33 if you’re looking at the PDF) that reads:
Whether limiting the standards to federal acceptance – as opposed to direct federal prescriptions on the states – obviates federalism concerns under Supreme Court jurisprudence, remains to be seen. The Court has held that in exercising its power under the Commerce Clause, Congress may not “commandeer” the state regulatory processes by ordering states to enact or administer a federal regulatory program. See New York v United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992). The Court has extended this principle by holding, in Printz v. United States, that Congress may not circumvent the prohibition on commandeering a state’s regulatory processes “by conscripting the State’s officers directly.” Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898, 935 (1997). It may be possible to argue that, because the issuance of drivers’ licenses remains a state regulatory function, the minimum issuance and verification requirements established in this bill, even if limited to federal agency acceptance, constitute an effective commandeering by Congress of the state regulatory process, or a conscription of the state and local officials who issue the licenses.
Some governors have hinted that they may take judicial action if it becomes necessary.
Finally, there is a very big can of worms related to the so-called Article 3, Section 2 exemption, which essentially allows Congress to forgo judicial review. This Act would be the first time in history a Congress has elected to invoke the exemption, which is a big deal, and may work in our favor if they figure out that doing so would be a far greater hassle than it’s worth. Anyway, there’s a lot more to link to available through this article at ArsTechnica.
For now, though, I am going to bed. I have lost this battle, but in researching this Act, I have discovered that the war waged by our government on our freedoms is far from over. We have a lot more to do. I don’t know about you, but when Luke, Leia and Han decide to make their move, I’m going to be there with my own trusty blaster.
What have you done for your country lately?
Posted by | Filed under Politics
I hate a lot of things. There’s a lot of things that really bug me; that really get under my skin. But the one thing I am absolutely sick and tired of hearing about is Senators and Congressman tacking little provisions onto other relatively benign bills in order to get them passed. This really pisses me off, because it’s blatently dishonest!
The latest example of this is the Real ID Act, written by one Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R), of Wisconsin. This act would mandate national ID cards for all citizens that are machine readable, with a lot of personal information going into some big government controlled database. It’s being tacked onto a bill giving our troops in Iraq further governmental financial support. Now, what does a national ID card system have to do with passing funding requests for our troops in Iraq? Nothing!
This is being voted on tomorrow. Here’s an email from my good friend Patrick Wagstrom with a little more information about it.
Hey,
So as part of the "emergency" funding bill for the troops, Sen
Stensenbrenner of Wisconsin got the Real ID bill attached, and it passed
the house. The senate votes on it this Tuesday (TOMORROW), and Bush
will certainly sign the bill if nothing happens.Here’s a brief overview of what’s going on:
Real ID basically mandates a national ID card. It requires that all
state drivers licenses have a uniform set of data, including biometric
data and that it be readable by a smart card and 2d barcode reader. In
addition, this information will be forwarded to a federal government
database of individuals.What’s so bad about all this? After all, we don’t have any privacy left
anyway. Well, the issue is that your information in this centralized
database becomes a requisite for all sorts of things, bank accounts,
plane tickets, social security, etc. Furthermore, it’s a centralized
clearing house for the the government to spy/black list it’s citizens.
This could very realistically turn into a massive new form of the no-fly
list where individuals will not know why they’ve been flagged. We could
have thousands of second class citizens who have no hopes of a better
life because they fit a profile. What’s worse, it could happen to you
(nothing like fear mongering to make a point).The bill has lots of other nasty provisions that do things like take
away habeus corpus for non-citizens and SUSPECTED terrorists
(technically leeching someone’s wifi access is terrorism as it’s
unauthorized computer access which is classified as computer terrorism).
The fact that this was attached to a spending authorization for the
troops is horrible and it *MUST* be stopped. Call your senators and let
them know that you don’t support this sort of piggybacking and that the
government needs to allow open and public debate on this issue. It’s
too important to be piggybacked and rammed through in this method.–Patrick
I want to reiterate that this is being voted on tomorrow! This means that if you want to speakup you need to do so now. There’s a website that you can use to contact your seantor(s). http://www.UnRealID.com. [Note: The site seems to be having problems right now. I tried to submit my fax but I got an error. If it doesn't come back up, you might have to call your Senator.] Please take the time to speak up about this if you’re even half as irate as I am. At the very least, even if you would support the Real ID Act, at least tell your Seantor(s) that they should read a bill before passing it, just to make sure shenanigans like this don’t happen.
Oh, and if you’re interested, here’s what I wrote to the Washington State Senators.
Good morning Senators Murray and Cantwell,
I am writing to voice my opposition of the Real ID Act, which is being voted on by the Senate on Tuesday, May 10. First of all, I feel that this Act is the first step leading to a national ID card system, not unlike that of Soviet Russia, communist China, and Vietnam. Frankly, if I wanted to live in China, I would move there. I would like to think that here in the US we support our citizens’ right to privacy.
Second of all, because these cards would be the same throughout all 50 states, and be machine readable, there is nothing preventing companies and individuals from the private sector from reading the data on these cards and selling citizens’ personal information to the highest bidder.
Thirdly, there is no proof that ID documents help prevent or deter terrorism. An ID document says nothing about evil intent. Forcing our citizens to document themselves is NOT a deterrant to terrorism; rather, it is a VICTORY for terrorists!
Finally, and most importantly, this Act has been tacked on to another bill, and has not been discussed or debated on the Senate floor. I believe that as Senators, it is your responsibility to read and understand all bills before you, and make an informed decision. The fact that the Real ID Act is piggybacking on another bill seems to imply that the author did not feel it could pass on its own merits. Please read and understand the Real ID Act in its entirety, and consider the ramifications of passing this bill.
Sincerely,
Tyler W. Butler
The Right to Read
Posted by | Filed under Politics
The article is in the form of a sort of sci-fi story, and is only one of several articles (I think) that were published by the ACM. I’m not the biggest fan of Stallman (he’s far too big a hippie for my tastes), but I think the article’s use of extremes illustrates some excellent points about the tendency of government to get all up in our electronic business. Anyway, I enjoyed it. At first glance, it seems very outlandish, but when you think about it and read the author’s notes, it becomes clear that the sad future isn’t far away.
SJ Games vs. The Secret Service
Posted by Tyler | Filed under Deep Thoughts, Links, Politics
Steve Jackson Games is one of my favorite game companies. They’re responsible for Chez Geek, Munchkin (and its spawn), and the greatest of all, Illuminati. These games are great! In my at-work news sniffing, I came across an old story involving SJ Games and the Secret Service. The Electronic Frontier Foundation apparently took the case, and there’s some interesting historical information in the EFF archives.
I found the archives a little difficult to navigate myself, so I’ve reprinted here the text to the background document by Shari Steele. Enjoy!
Steve Jackson Games Versus United States Secret Service
by Shari Steele
In a decision announced in Austin, Texas, on March 12, Judge Sam Sparks
of the federal district court for the Western District of Texas
announced that the case of Steve Jackson Games et al. versus the U.S.
Secret Service and the United States Government has been decided for the
plaintiffs. The decision in this trial may have critical implications
for our online communications.
But first, some background. Many years ago, telephone companies around
the country worked with local police and fire departments and hospitals
to create a system where telephone users could dial the digits “9-1-1″
to report an emergency. The telephone lines used for the 911 system
were separate lines, which were not used by the telephone companies to
route regular telephone calls, to ensure that the lines were always
available during emergencies. Sometime in September of 1988, a computer
intruder logged onto a Bell South computer and made a copy of a
telephone company document describing how Bell South’s emergency 911
system worked. Telephone company personnel became aware of the
existence of the unauthorized copy of this proprietary document and
called the United States Secret Service to help find the person who had
penetrated their computer. The Secret Service agents were concerned
that the integrity of the emergency 911 system would be in jeopardy if
computer intruders knew how to use the 911 lines, leaving emergency
callers with no access to the system when they needed it.
In reality, the document that was copied off the Bell South computer,
commonly known as the E911 document, did not contain passwords or any
other access descriptions. The document was, rather, a technically
written narrative containing information that was readily published and
available for sale from Bellcore and other telephone companies.
No matter . . . the Secret Service was on the case! And with the help
of telephone company personnel, the Secret Service attempted to trace
the location (or locations, as was the case) of the document. Sometime
in February of 1989, the young man who had copied the E911 document from
Bell South’s computer submitted it for publication to an online
newsletter named Phrack. Phrack’s editors cut the document down to
about half of its original size, taking out all references to telephone
company employees, telephone numbers and sensitive information about the
system. The E911document was then published in Phrack issue 24, which
was electronically distributed for its usual no charge, to various
computer users throughout the country — to about 150 sites in all.
Phrack issue 24 was distributed on February 25, 1989.
The Secret Service went wild. Copies of what they claimed was a
sensitive document had now been passed electronically throughout the
country. And on March 1, 1990, the Secret Service raided a fantasy
books and games producer named Steve Jackson Games, looking for the
document.
The Secret Service didn’t actually know whether someone at Steve Jackson
Games had received a copy of issue 24 of Phrack. The Service simply
knew that one of the employees there had received a copy of the
newsletter on his home BBS, and may have been involved with the young
man who had originally intruded into Bell South’s computer. When the
employee’s home BBS was no longer accessible to telephone company
personnel attempting to log in, a theory apparently arose that the
employee’s BBS was now being run out of Steve Jackson Games. And, in
fact, Steve Jackson Games did run a BBS, called the Illuminati.
The Secret Service, as it would learn later, was wrong. There was no
E911document on Illuminati, no issues of Phrack, and no BBS from the
employee’s home. The Illuminati BBS had been around for years and was
set up to be a place for those who enjoyed fantasy games to congregate.
The board was setup like most other boards — with bulletin boards,
conference areas and e-mail. But now the board was closed down — the
Secret Service physically removed it from Steve Jackson Games on March
1, 1990, and did not return it until sometime in the end of June of that
year. All in all, the Secret Service seized 3 computers, 5 hard disks
and more than 300 floppies from Steve Jackson Games on that fateful day.
No criminal charges were ever brought against Steve Jackson Games. Yet,
when the computer equipment was returned more than three months after
the raid, it appeared that someone inspecting the disks had read and
deleted all of the 162 electronic mail messages contained on the BBS at
the time of the raid. Not one of the users of the BBS was even under
investigation from the Secret Service.
Steve Jackson, owner of Steve Jackson Games, was angry. During the
three months his systems were under Secret Service investigation, he had
to layoff nearly half of his work force. Publication of at least one of
his games books was delayed, resulting in loss of revenues to the
company. He was written up in Business Week magazine as being a
computer criminal. Steve Jackson decided to fight back. On May 1, 1991,
Steve Jackson, Steve Jackson Games and three users of the Illuminati
BBS, with the help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, filed a civil
suit against the United States Secret Service, alleging that the search
warrant used during the raid was insufficient, since Steve Jackson Games
was a publisher, and that the privacy protections of the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)had been violated with regard to the
electronic mail on the system.
As I wrote in a previous column, ECPA consists of a series of amendments
to the federal wiretap act. It prohibits law enforcement officers from
intentionally intercepting, using and/or disclosing the contents of
private electronic communications without a warrant. The statute offers
the same privacy protection for communications that are stored
“incidental to the electronic transmission thereof.” The users of the
Illuminati board claimed that their unread e-mail was still in transit,
and therefore required a warrant specifically describing the messages to
be searched. The Secret Service claimed that the mail was no longer in
transit, and therefore no special warrant was required under ECPA.
On Tuesday, January 26, 1993, at a little after 1:00 p.m., U.S. District
Court Judge Sam Sparks began to hear the trial of Steve Jackson Games v.
United States Secret Service. By the third day of the trial, while the
judge had not decided the final outcome of the case, he had determined
that the raid and the subsequent investigation and non-return of
equipment had been inappropriate. While Special Agent Thomas Foley of
the Secret Service sat there simply replying, “Yes, sir,” the judge
barraged him with questions concerning the Secret Service’s conduct:
[Note: Some of this may be paraphrased.]
“How long would it have taken you to find out what type of business
Steve Jackson Games does? One hour? . . . In any investigation prior to
March1st (the day of the raid) was there any evidence that implicated
Steve Jackson or Steve Jackson Games, other than [the employee's]
presence? . . .You had a request from the owner to give the computers
and disks back. You knew a lawyer was called. Why couldn’t a copy of
the information contained on the disks be given within a matter of days?
. . . How long would it have taken to copy all disks? 24 hours? . . .
Who indicated that Steve Jackson was running some kind of illegal
activity? . . . Since the equipment was not accessed at the Secret
Service office in Chicago after March 27, 1990,why wasn’t the equipment
released on March 28th? . . . Did you or anyone else do any
investigation after March 1st into the nature of Mr. Jackson and his
business? . . . You had the owner standing right in front of you on
March 2nd. Is it your testimony that the first time you realized that
he was a publisher and had business records on the machine was when this
suit was filed?”
And so it went for fifteen minutes straight. The government lawyers
were visibly shaken by this interrogation — so much so that they
decided not to call any of the other witnesses who had waited for two
days to tell their stories. In the closing arguments, the judge
repeatedly asked the lawyers what his award of damages should be, since
it was apparent he believed that Steve Jackson Games had, in fact, been
damaged.
The judge’s decision was announced on March 12, 1993. Judge Sparks
awarded more than $50,000 in damages to Steve Jackson Games, citing lost
profits and violations of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980. In
addition, the judge awarded each plaintiff $1,000 under the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act for the Secret Service seizure of their
stored electronic mail.
The judge also stated that plaintiffs would be reimbursed for their
attorneys’ fees.
The judge did not find that Secret Service agents had “intercepted” the
electronic communications that were captured when agents seized the
Illuminati BBS in an early morning raid in the spring of 1990 as part of
a computer crime investigation. The judge did find, however, that the
ECPA had been violated by the agents’ seizure of stored electronic
communications on the system. The plaintiffs have decided to appeal the
interception claim.
The results of this precedent-setting litigation will clearly have
important consequences for users of computer bulletin board systems.
And, hopefully, the public reprimand of the United States Secret Service
will cause them to step back and think before seizing their next BBS.
Tags: eff
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