Posted on 11/15/2011 1:45:14 PM PST by FourPeas
The U.S. Department of Justice is defending computer hacking laws that make it a crime to use a fake name on Facebook or lie about your weight in an online dating profile at a site like Match.com.
In a statement obtained by CNET that's scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, the Justice Department argues that it must be able to prosecute violations of Web sites' often-ignored, always-unintelligible "terms of service" policies.
The law must allow "prosecutions based upon a violation of terms of service or similar contractual agreement with an employer or provider," Richard Downing, the Justice Department's deputy computer crime chief, will tell the U.S. Congress tomorrow.
Scaling back that law "would make it difficult or impossible to deter and address serious insider threats through prosecution," and jeopardize prosecutions involving identity theft, misuse of government databases, and privacy invasions, according to Downing.
The law in question, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, has been used by the Justice Department to prosecute a woman, Lori Drew, who used a fake MySpace account to verbally attack a 13-year old girl who then committed suicide. Because MySpace's terms of service prohibit impersonation, Drew was convicted of violating the CFAA. Her conviction was later thrown out.
What makes this possible is a section of the CFAA that was never intended to be used that way: a general-purpose prohibition on any computer-based act that "exceeds authorized access." To the Justice Department, this means that a Web site's terms of service define what's "authorized" or not, and ignoring them can turn you into a felon.
On the other hand, because millions of Americans likely violate terms of service
(Excerpt) Read more at news.cnet.com ...
Yeah, but this one they intend to enforce.
Well, I guess it’s okay to lie to Congress and the Country and to be involved up to your neck in a coverup which has resulted in deaths.
But hey - don’t lie about your weight on match!!!
The logic is astounding.
F U B O
Does this mean I can get into trouble if I suggest Laz would hit it, when I know for a fact he would not?
What about lying about being born in the US?
seems pretty obvious... someone at DOJ met up with a “25 yr old 120 lb woman” that turned out to be a “42 yr old 240 lb troll”
and since he was a lawyer, he wants to do something about it
btw, we’d all be in violation since we aren’t using our real names on FR (ie: lying about our ‘identity’)
This be the “No Fat Chicks” clause of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
There goes dating and for tht matter the honeymoon!
You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone?
But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.
Rand
Wonder how Match will survive with only 5% of their current subscribers?
Note to the DoJ. Lying to Senate and House subcommittees under oath already is a crime. Just sayin’.
Yeah match.com has real issues with fake profiles and scammers that they need to address. It’s kind of fun to weed them out though.
Law enforcement will be exempt, of course.
No, people just need to not trust anything someone puts on a facebook page.
Or having to prove who you are to uuse facebook, but being opposed to proving who you are when you go to vote...
Secret Agent Man: DOJ allowing thousands of guns to get into Mexican criminals hands to kill Americans in order to justify opposing the 2nd Amendment, IS A CRIME.
Eventually to get on the Internet, everybody will need a CA Certificate from Veri-Sign, or somesuch, validating they are who they say they are, just the same as Companies do.
I’m actually 5’2”. LOL!
...and maybe a tattoo so I don’t forget my number.
You mean I would have to admit I’m a cross between Yoda and James Carville and that I have one eyebrow and enough hair on my back to carpet a 2,000 sq. ft. home? No way!
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