150 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
150 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
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Article Written By:
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Matt Miller for Crisnews
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My Thought on the Proposed Legislation to make Virus Code
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Illegal in the U.S.A.
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Please read the following:
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AMENDMENT I
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Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
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prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
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or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
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petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
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AMENDMENT II
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A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free
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State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be
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infringed.
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AMENDMENT IV
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The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
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and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
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violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by
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oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched,
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and the persons or things to be seized.
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AMENDMENT V
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No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous
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crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
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cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual
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service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for
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the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be
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compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be
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deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor
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shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
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OK, I'll try to be brief here.... From the above we receive our
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"rights" of Freedom of Speech, The Right to Bear Arms,The Right
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to be secure in our personal spaces and not to have to put up
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with illegal search and seizure, We are also assured that our
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personal property will not be taken without due process of law.
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That being said, why should anyone have the right to tell
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another what type of code he/she may have on their own personal
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computer? I understand the laws against software piracy, that's
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the same as theft, but I do not understand why anyone should be
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able to tell me that I may not keep virus code on my PC. I know
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it's been discussed before, but this issue is comparable to our
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laws on guns. We allow people to own guns for their own personal
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enjoyment, and for protection. Some perverse individuals use
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them to kill others, yet we do not tell the rest of the gun
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owners that they may no longer own them. Some people own viruses
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for their own personal enjoyment, and also through studying them
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they contribute to the protection of their systems. It seems to me
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that we should enact tough legislation against those who use
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this code to knowingly damage others systems, but those that
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just want to see what they are capable of, or study them to aid
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in the prevention of infection, should still be able to legally
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own and obtain them.
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I don't want to get into a lengthy discussion/interpretation of
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the constitution as it may apply to this issue, rather I would
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simply like to state that there are both responsible and
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irresponsible people in the world. Just because some are
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irresponsible with certain things does not mean we should take
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them away from those that are responsible. If legislation is
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passed to make the possession of viral code illegal it will only
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send virus writers and the like further "underground".
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As it stands right now, it is rather easy for those with an
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interest to obtain virus code. This includes antivirus software
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authors and consultants, as well as the layman who just wants to
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"check them out".
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My questions are simple, and the answers should be plain to all:
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1. In a Democratic society who should have the right to tell
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another what type of code he or she may possess on their own
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personal computer?
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2. If we outlaw viruses what will we actually accomplish? Will
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we only succeed in driving the virus authors back "underground"?
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3. Just because a few individuals use this code irresponsibly,
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does that give anyone the right to tell the rest of us that we
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may not possess it?
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4. By making this code illegal will we hamper the efforts of
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those who want to study it to help prevent infections?
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5. If it is made illegal for the general populace to own viral
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code, who then should be allowed to possess it, and what type of
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standardized, Government administered, test should they have to
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pass? What should the EXACT criteria be? How would consultants
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and other new anti-virus software authors gain access to
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viruses?
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6. If we allow the Government to make this type of code illegal,
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even to those among us who are responsible and have no desire
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for destruction, what will they want to ban next?
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7. Would allowing this type of legislation set a dangerous
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precedent? (Think about the PGP/Personal Encryption issue before
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you make a hasty answer here...)
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Well that's about all I have to say on the issue, let the reader
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make up his/her own mind. Just be sure to make an informed
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decision, do not be so hasty to lump all "VX" bbs's into one
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group. Some people actually think that virus code in and of
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itself is harmless, it takes human intervention for it to be
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destructive. They think that there should be STRICT laws against
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the misuse of this code to knowingly cause damage to another's
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system. They also believe that just because there are a few
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fools out there, that is no reason to tell the populace at large
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what it may or may not possess in the sanctity of their own
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home/business. Take a few minutes to read the Amendments at the
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beginning of this article, then sit back and digest that for a
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few seconds... Now honestly answer the above questions.
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-Matt Miller
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Comments are most welcome, flames to /dev/null!
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matt.miller@aquila.com
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You can also send netmail to CRIS BBS.
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